Melt me
by Kinomi
Summary: On a trip to the Hawaiian Islands, a new mutant is discovered: Darcy Harper. Will this mysterious water mutant be the one to melt a certain Iceman's heart? Or will her inner demons drive them apart? Not every new student wants to be an Xman after all...
1. Gray to Clear

Disclaimer: I don't own X-men:Evolution (though it would be nice if I did…) I'm just borrowing the characters for my own nefarious purposes.

Also, if I make a mistake here or there with the facts bear with me, I've seen about 85% - 90% of Evo – so if I miss something or get a fact wrong my apologies. I am writing this story as taking place a year or two ahead of where the series is now – so conflict is inevitable since I'm not clairvoyant…yet. :P

Lastly, while I don't own Evo, Torrent (Darcy Harper) is mine, so please ask before borrowing her – that is if she's borrow-worthy, but you'll have to be the judge of that. 

================

**Melt me**

By Kinomi

Chapter One: Gray to Clear 

***

_Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, Midnight_

The full moon shone brightly through the cockpit window of the X-jet, bathing the dark interior with its frosty glow. It shimmered down coldly on the black sea below, the reflection on the water like a road of luminous diamonds spreading toward the horizon for him to follow. Like a trail of sparkling ice.

In the pilots seat, Bobby Drake, known as the Iceman, sighed softly. He finally got the opportunity to fly the multi-million dollar plane and it was just to take Scott Summers, Mr. McCoy, and a handful of students on a glorified field trip. It wasn't fair; he was a full fledged member of the team now - an integral and valuable one in his opinion – yet he never got the chance to prove his mad piloting skills, instead they were turning him into a glorified bus driver.

In the seat next to him, Hank McCoy mumbled in his sleep and shifted more onto his side. Trying to find a comfortable position for his big body in the cramped cockpit. Bobby glanced over to make sure his sigh hadn't woken the older man up, but the Beast's soft snuffling snore told him he had nothing to worry about.

Bobby sighed again. If he hadn't been so desperate for any opportunity to prove to the powers that be – Scott and Hank in this case – that he was ready, willing, and more than able to handle taking over piloting the X-jet on more vital missions than a botany field trip to Hawaii, he'd have stayed home. Especially since the powers that be were both soundly asleep and missing the whole ride.

Tightening his grip on the planes throttle, Bobby resisted the urge to have some fun. A few loops and a power dive would certainly show everyone that there was more to the Iceman than cold air, but it was stunts like those that had made the Professor revoke his flying status in the first place. Bobby'd worked too hard for this second chance; he sure didn't need to blow it. Especially since there was no one awake to appreciate his gift for aerial acrobatics anyway. 

A glance at the controls told him he had at least another hour before they would be getting close to the big island. Bobby was in the middle of inhaling for another long suffering sigh, when a twinkle off to his left caught his attention. He scanned the dark sea below, looking for the glimmer again. Wanting to be sure it wasn't a boat in trouble.

Carefully, so he wouldn't wake his passengers, Bobby pushed forward on the wheel of the plane, taking the jet down closer to the sea. A spout of white a mile or two ahead of the plane caught his attention and he grinned.

"Cool," he murmured under his breath as he flew over the pod of whales making their way south from the Hawaiian Islands. The shine of the whale pod's wake glittered in the darkness, but it wasn't the same as the glimmer he'd seen. Dropping lower, Bobby flew less than three hundred feet above the surface of the calm sea, searching for the flash of light he thought he'd seen.

Just when he was about to give up, he saw something ahead that defied his mind's logic for a moment. Not an easy feat considering all the things he'd seen in his career as a member of the X-men. It was a wave, at least eighty feet tall racing across the sea. Bobby blinked and looked again, but the wave was still there. It was only about thirty feet wide as it rose above the oceans surface, and resembled nothing so much as the ice skid he used to travel quickly.

Bobby pushed the throttle down, eager to catch up with the phenomenon, and the jet responded with a burst of speed, overtaking the wave in seconds. Bobby flew lower as he pulled back on the throttle to pace the fast moving wave, and he wasn't that surprised to see a figure standing at the crest of the white water. He'd suspected that someone might be using mutant powers to control the sea and make the anomalous wave. He was surprised however, when the moonlight revealed that the shining liquid figure riding the wave was female. 

He couldn't see her well, not without flying dangerously close, but something in his gut told him that she was going to be pretty. Maybe it was just wishful thinking – after all, he'd broken up with his last girlfriend Jubilee a few months before and was starting to feel the need for female company again – but he doubted it. Something just spoke to him and told him that this moment had significance, even if he had no clue as to why.

Dipping the wing of the jet in greeting, Bobby raced the girl and her wave across the ocean. She was heading toward the Islands the same as he was. Lifting her hands the swell rose, bringing her higher and closer to the plane. When she was about fifty feet away she looked over at him and smiled, the moonlight reflecting off the curves of her face and body, like water had come to life. He took a hand off the controls to wave.

"Be still my heart," Bobby grinned. The girl raised a hand in salute, acknowledging that she saw him. He wanted to open the small window, then he could use his powers to show off, but he knew that was just asking for Scott or McCoy to jump down his throat if he woke them up. 

Instead, he put his hand against the metal bulkhead down low next to his chair and concentrated. Trying to remember that her left was going to be his right as he pulled the moisture in the air to the side of the black plane and froze it, spelling out – he hoped – 'hi'.

Cocking her head to the side, the girl raised her hands and shrugged her shoulders, not understanding his message. Putting his hand up higher, closer to the window and the center of the plane's side, Bobby tried again, this time going for a simpler message as he froze the condensation into the shape of a heart.

She seemed to understand this time as Bobby glimpsed her smiling. Raising her hands again the wave she was riding on spread out to the side underneath the jet. Then as he watched the wave surged ahead of the plane and rose like canyon walls flanking the plane. Bobby grinned as he flew through the tunnel of water, appreciating the gift. It didn't last long, too much effort on the girl's powers probably, and the tunnel of water fell away, as did the wave with the girl riding it.

Without thinking, Bobby banked and turned the plane, circling back to where the girl had fallen behind. She was still riding her wave, but it was slower and smaller than when she'd raced him. He could no longer pace her without stalling the jet. He saw her look up at him and wave as he circled as close as he dared, but all he could do was give a waggle of the jet's wings in response as he continued around. 

"Problems?" he heard Scott's voice ask from behind him. Bobby glanced over his shoulder; with those glasses Scott wore, Bobby could never tell if the man was awake or asleep. He debated telling Scott about the mysterious water mutant, but impulsively decided he wanted to keep the encounter to himself.

"Not a one," Bobby replied. "Just saw some whales," he said by way of explanation as he put the throttle down, bringing the jet back up to speed as he continued on his previous course. Leaving the mysterious girl behind. He grunted some response to Scott's reminder that he wasn't there to screw around before dismissing him from his mind. After a few minutes Scott's deep breathing indicated that he'd fallen back asleep, but it was too late for Bobby to turn back by then. 

"Damn," Bobby muttered under his breath as the distance between him and the wave-rider increased. How would he ever find her again? They were out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, for crying out loud. If he was lucky she'd turn out to be from the Islands and he'd run into her while he was there, but that seemed as likely as finding a needle in a haystack. Mostly because he had no real clue as to what she looked like. All he'd seen was a slender figure made of water.

Bobby sighed. It was probably hopeless.

***

_Oahu, Friday morning, Dawn_

The sound of the surf soothed and refreshed her, it always had. Even when she'd lived thousands of miles away from any ocean, before she'd ever discovered what she was, she'd been strengthened by the sound and touch of water. It was integral to her well being, even if it meant sleeping propped up against the running washing machine in her family's home in Iowa, or spending hours in the bathtub. But all that was just a pale substitute for the way she felt when she got within sight of the ocean.

Opening her eyes she found the rosy light of dawn bathing the beach she lay face down on, the sand damp underneath her cheek. Too far, she must have followed the whales too far out last night if she was so exhausted she'd fallen asleep on the beach less than a hundred yards from her house.

"Total bummer. Major green room action this morning and I'm gonna miss it," a voice sighed from beside her. "You trying to torture me, Darce?"

Levering herself up on her elbows, Darcy Harper flipped herself over on her back to look up at the handsome young blonde man sitting next to her. Darcy frowned, and then remembered her innocent flirtation with the jet pilot the night before on her way back from the seeing the whale pod off. She'd made some pretty major waves showing off her powers, the results of which were just coming ashore now.

"I got a little carried away last night," she admitted sheepishly. 

Alex Masters looked away from the prone teen at his side and looked longingly back out at the choice surf his friend had created. He'd love nothing more than to run back up to his room over the garage, change into his wetsuit, grab his stick and get out in it. But his brother was coming to town today, and Alex had promised Scott he'd meet him at his hotel for breakfast.

He would have offered to let his older brother stay with him, Alex's adopted parents had always made Scott feel more than welcome, but they had a new member of the household in Darcy. So no free rooms. Not that Scott was much of a surfer. Still, it was some pretty big swells that were coming in, and Alex could only imagine how big the waves must have been out there when she made them.

"How carried away?" Alex asked with concern, looking back down at his adopted "sister".

Alex had reason to be concerned. It had been almost nine months earlier on this very beach that he'd saved Darcy Harper's life. He'd been surfing as he did almost every morning of his life, but on that day the waves were nearly nonexistent. The swells like wales of finest corduroy that never broke. He should have gone in, there was absolutely no action whatsoever and he was the only one out there, waiting for sets that would never come. But Alex liked the ocean for more than the surf and he was enjoying watching the sun come up. Coloring the big thunderheads to the west pink and golden.

He'd been about to call it a day when he'd seen something floating toward him. After the several run ins he'd had with sharks over the years, he'd charged up his hands automatically before really seeing what it was. As it had floated closer he'd seen what could have only been described as a denser part of water. The object was translucent like water, the swells lapping at it like it had mass, but visibly it was like nothing was there until as Alex had watched the water coalesced into the figure of a girl for a moment – still maintaining its translucent quality – before spreading out again.

Alex had wasted no time bailing off his board and swimming over to the girl. Being a mutant himself, he recognized her for what she was and knew he had to help her. Grabbing on to the exhausted mutant in the surf had been like grappling with a bag of water in a washing machine, but with the help of his surfboard Alex had been able to tow her in.

He'd carried her up to his room, the whole time feeling as though she was about to burst, like any moment the surface tension that held her together would give out and he'd wind up having to mop her up with a sponge. Tossing a couple of beach towels on his futon he laid the unconscious girl down to recover. 

After showering and changing clothes, Alex sat down with a book and waited, keeping watch over his charge. Curious, at one point he reached out and touched her forehead gently, wondering what the liquid girl would feel like out of the water. She felt like semi solid water or gelatin, yet she wasn't wet to the touch. It was the most bizarre thing Alex had ever felt.

It had taken nearly twelve hours before she was sufficiently rested enough to regain consciousness. Alex was fast asleep in his chair with his book lying open on his chest when the mutant woke up that evening. He'd completely missed her transformation back to ordinary. He'd fallen asleep with living water on his bed and woken up to find a bewildered and not unattractive teenaged girl in its place. Namely one Darcy Harper aged seventeen, formerly of Dry Bluff, Iowa, population 306.

Now, 305.

Darcy sat up beside Alex on the sand, touched by the concern she heard in his voice. She'd never had an older brother before, a role Alex Masters had adopted with her from the first moment she'd clapped eyes on him when she'd woken up from her living nightmare. Alex was her savior, her mentor, and her only true friend. She'd do almost anything for the young man who'd taught her that life really was worth living. Even if you had nothing…especially then.

"Don't worry, Alex, it wasn't like…last time. I just went out too far. I ran out of juice," Darcy said lightly, trying to alleviate his fears and she rested her hand on his arm.

She'd staunchly avoided talking about the events in her life that had led up to Alex's rescuing her from the surf. The hurt was still too fresh, too vivid. It was painfully ironic to her actually that she, a mutant that could control and manipulate water, who could become one with the sea itself if she chose, had nearly died in it. Even more ironic that it had been her parents, the people who had given her life, that had tried to take it away when they found out what she was. Even though she had saved their lives - and the life of her younger brother - inadvertently with her powers.

Darcy shook her head to clear it; she refused to think of them. Her family was dead to her now. As far as she was concerned she'd been born the moment Alex had saved her, he and his adoptive parents were her family now. 

Alex gave her a suspicious look. "Isn't that exactly what happened last time?" he questioned. Darcy blushed and looked away, unable to meet the intense blue-green of his eyes.

"Not exactly," she said evasively, looking down at the sand. Alex said nothing for a long minute as he studied the sea with somber eyes.

"You know that if you ever want to tell me, I'll always listen," Alex said quietly. His expression so serious that he looked much older than his eighteen years. Then like a cloud passing the sun his expression brightened, nothing kept Alex Masters down for long and he slung his arm companionably around Darcy's slender shoulders. "Come on, you better get inside and changed before Mom gets up. She doesn't know you never made it home last night, but she will if you don't get a move on," Alex said with a grin, letting go of her as he sprang to his feet and headed back up the beach toward the Masters House.

Darcy scrambled up after him, trotting to catch up with his much longer legs. 'Hey, Alex?" she called softly. Alex slowed down and turned to let her catch up, a wide smile splitting his handsome face.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks a lot," Darcy said, unable to put her feelings into words. Alex looked confused, and he slung his arm around Darcy's shoulders again as they made their way back to the house together.

"For what?"

"For everything. For helping me, for taking me in, making me part of your family. For being the best 'big brother' ever." Darcy told him, wrapping her arm around his waist to hug him briefly. 

"No prob, _Wahine_," he teased. "But when it comes to big brothers you haven't seen anything yet. Wait until you meet Scott. He defines stoic, overprotective sibling. In fact he's got it down to an art form."

"No sense of humor?" Darcy asked. Alex opened the sliding glass door off the patio and let her precede him into the quiet interior. He chuckled quietly at her quick guess.

"Not much," Alex agreed, flopping down on the couch and flipping on the TV. "Why don't you come with me to breakfast and meet him?" Alex said, like the idea had just occurred to him. Darcy raised an eyebrow.

"You sure? I mean, I don't want to intrude, he is your real family."

Alex tossed a throw pillow at her. "You're my family too, kook." 

Darcy's smile lit up her whole face, making Alex glad he'd invited her along. Even though he'd had an ulterior motive for introducing her to Scott all along. 

Darcy didn't much like to talk about her mutation. And it was her lack of control over her powers that had nearly gotten her killed when he met her. He'd tried showing her how to control them, taking her to the interior of the Island and away from prying eyes before demonstrating his own abilities. It was these lessons that had given Darcy the margin of control she needed to not lose herself in the element she was trying to manipulate. Alex knew there were things about her powers that she would need to know, things Alex couldn't teach her, but that Scott and the Xavier Institute could. He'd turned down his brother countless times when Scott had asked him to come east to live with him and join the X-men. Alex chose to remain unaffiliated because his life was here. Surfing was his life and he wasn't ready to give it up for anyone or anything, but that didn't mean that the Institute didn't have things it could offer Darcy.

He grinned as he saw her still hesitating in the hallway out of the corner of his eye. "Think there might still be some offshore break for us this afternoon, _Wahine_?" 

Darcy smiled back. "I think it can be arranged," she said before heading upstairs to get ready.

"Sweet…"

***

AN: Here is the first chapter. I won't flat out say that the continuation of this fic is dependent on reviews, but I will say that they will weigh on where this fic falls on my priority list. If you like it and want to read more, please review and let me know. ^_^ 


	2. Sunshine Yellow Eyes

Disclaimer: Haven't picked up the rights to XME in the last couple of days, so I'm still just a borrower.

**Melt Me**

By Kinomi

Chapter Two: Sunshine Yellow Eyes

***

_Koko Crater Botanical Gardens, Oahu, 9:32 a.m._

"And this, Class, is the extremely rare _Gardenia brighamii. _Or '_na'u_' in Hawaiian. Family _Rubiaceae._ This tree was formerly found on all dry slopes of the major Hawaiian Islands except Kauai, but sadly it is now nearly extinct. Such a shame to lose such beauty…" 

Bobby stuck his hands in the pockets of his baggy cargo shorts and gazed half-heartedly at the flowering tree Hank McCoy was going on and on about. It looked like a pointy leaved bush to him, but who was he to question, botany bored him to tears. It was amazing to him that anyone could get so worked up over a bunch of plants.

"Remember, Class, that _Rubiaceae _are trees, shrubs, and less frequently herbs, the flowers are nearly always bisexual and actinomorphic, often heterostylous…" Without waiting to hear any more Bobby eased back from the group of slack jawed students. Their brains fried from the thought of having to remember any of this when they were on Oahu, one of the most beautiful places on earth. School hadn't even started for this term yet. Who cared about the sex life of flowers? Bobby sure didn't, he was more concerned with his own, or lack there of. Only Jamie and Roberto cared about getting good grades on Hank's little nature excursions. Bobby'd already done his time in Hank's classes…he didn't even need to be here really.

Pulling his baseball cap down to shade his eyes he wandered away from where Beast was giving his lecture. Professor Xavier had arranged with the Botanical gardens to let Hank's class have the run of the place for the entire morning. Since people pointing and staring whenever they saw Hank wasn't a positive learning environment. Bobby appreciated the solitude once he was out of earshot of Beast's bore-a-thon.

He stopped before some brightly colored flowers without even seeing them, far too taken with the glimpse of the turquoise sea he could see beyond the craters edge. It reminded him of the water girl the night before, and he couldn't stop wondering who she was, and what was she doing so far out to sea. Had she made it home safely? What was she doing right that moment? Thinking about it made him feel sort of agitated and restless and he didn't even know why.

"Hey, Frostbite, what are you doing hiding all the way over here?"

Bobby glanced over from where he leaned against the trail's rough wooden fence. His face nearly in the vivid plumeria flowers as he stared out at the slice of ocean he could see through the trees. He groaned inwardly when he saw Boom-Boom sauntering toward him.

It wasn't that he disliked Tabitha Smith; he used to hang around with her quite a bit when they'd both been new to the Institute and Bayville High back when they were sophomores. But later on when Bobby had made the mistake of dating some of the female residents of the Xavier Institute who were his friends, like Amara, then Cory, and lastly Jubilee, the girls had closed ranks against him. Even Boom-Boom and Kitty, and he hadn't even dated _them_. But they were all part of the estrogen brigade that judged him as a commitment-phobic player before having all the facts.

His relationship with Amara had only lasted two weeks before they had agreed they made better friends than boyfriend and girlfriend. Cory, another pyrokinetic mutant had only been at the Institute for five months before her parents decided they wanted her back home permanently. That relationship had been nipped in the bud before it could ever really get going. And Jubilee, he could write a book on what a mistake it had been to ever start up with Jubilation Lee.

"Trying to shake off the catatonia of boredom from looking at plants all morning," Bobby told her. Tabby gave him one of her coy smiles as she sidled up next to him at the railing. Without any regard for the rules, Tabby plucked one of the bright pink plumeria's and stuck it behind her ear.

"Is it me?" she asked him, putting one hand behind her head and posing. Bobby shrugged apathetically; he never could get into Tabby's audacious flirting with him, or ever take her seriously. It was just the way she was.

"Sure," he replied listlessly, turning back toward the sea and more pleasant trains of thought, like wondering what color eyes and hair the water mutant had normally, and if she might be as pretty solid as she'd looked in liquid. He rested his chin on his hand and sighed, totally forgetting Tabitha was still at his side.

"Ahhhh," Tabby chuckled, "who is she then?"

"Who's what? What are you talking about?" he stammered, flustered. Hoping the shade from the bill of his hat would hide the worst of his blush.

"You. You only sigh like that and get that moony look on your face when you're interested in a girl. Who is it this time? Kitty? Or has _my_ number finally come up with Bayville High's biggest lothario?" she asked, resting one hand on her chest theatrically and batting her eyelashes at him.

Bobby frowned at her and folded his arms over his chest. He didn't much like the feeling that she was taunting him for information, only for she and the other girls to use it as ammo against him later. "Lothario? You don't even know what that word means, Tabby."

"Sure I do," she shot back, her hands fisted on her hips. "It's like a skirt chaser," Tabitha said with an expansive wave of her hand. "Am I right?"

Bobby grunted something unintelligible, not wanting to give her the satisfaction and stuffed his hands back in his pockets. Suddenly finding the nearby flora vastly engrossing. Tabby laughed at him then and stepped in front of him as he leaned against the railing. Her hands coming to rest on his shoulders and her blue eyes twinkled with mischief.

"I'm not as dumb as you all think I am," she flirted. Bobby remained impassive, wary of her true motivation as he waited her out. "So who is it?" she prodded. 

"None of your business," he said and was immediately sorry.

"There is someone! I knew it! Tell me who."

"No."

"Is it Kitty?"

Silence.

"Is it me?"

Bobby gave her a chilly smile, "Aw, Tabbs, you know I'm saving you for never…" 

Tabby was unfazed by the insult as the dimple in her cheek grew. She just loved yanking Bobby's chain – anyone's chain for that matter – it was so much fun. "Harsh," she chided. He shrugged and she let go of his shoulders. Bobby immediately took advantage to move away from her, angling more toward the exit of the gardens. Tabby was right on his heels.

"Tell me who," she demanded again, more tenacious than a terrier. 

"Drop it already," Bobby tossed over his shoulder.

"I know! You're missing Jubilee, aren't you? You want her back."

Bobby came to an abrupt halt, causing Tabitha who was a half step behind him to barrel into his back. He looked over his shoulder at her, his brown eyes – normally warm and full of humor – as hard and cold as the ice he controlled.

"Is that what this is about? Getting ammunition for you guys to crucify me with again later on?"

Boom-Boom held up her hands in a placating gesture, and also to show she hadn't made any charges to stick down the back of his cargo shorts like she was thinking about doing. "Don't get your panties in a wad there, Chilly Willy, I was just having you on. I know you and Jubes are kaput. Sheesh! You need to seriously lighten up, Bobby. You're starting to act like Scott."

Bobby look struck. "Now that was uncalled for!" he complained. Tabby laughed at the outraged expression on the Iceman's face.

The tension broken, Tabby leaned back and rested her elbows on the fence top and crossed her ankles. "It's true, you are seriously no fun anymore. Since you've gone primo into the geek squad you've gotten just as bad as they are."

"No way!"

Tabitha slanted him a sly look. "Then prove it, let's take the van and go sightseeing."

Bobby looked uncertain, on the one hand she had a point, anything was better than hanging out here looking at a bunch of tropical flowers all day. Especially when beaches and babes beckoned. But on the other hand, if he took off and left Hank and the others stranded without a ride he could pretty much kiss off flying the X-jet home.

"We shouldn't leave the others stranded…" Bobby said lamely.

Tabby put her hand to her chest again, feigning shock. "Why, Bobby Drake, you aren't getting…_responsible_ on me now are you?"

"I screw up, I don't get to fly," Bobby explained with a shrug, but her little dig at him about being responsible and being like Scott was needling at him.

Tabitha flapped a hand at him lazily over her shoulder as she started walking away, already dismissing him at his hesitation. "Fine! Stay with the geek squad then and look at a bunch of weeds. I'm gonna go cruise the North Shore, check out the Pipeline and all those hunky surfers…yum!"

Surfers. Waves. Bobby felt a strange exhilaration slam through his body. What better place to look for a wave controlling mutant than at Oahu's most popular surf spot? It made perfect sense and Bobby lurched into motion at the thought, trotting after Tabby to catch up.

"Boom-Boom! Wait up!" he called, but as he rounded the corner in the trail near the exit he saw that Tabby was already waiting for him, a smug look on her face. She lifted an eyebrow at him questioningly.

"What changed your mind?"

Bobby grinned, there was no way he was telling Tabby the truth. "Where there's surfers, there's bound to be surf babes in bikinis…" he told her, pulling the keys to the rental van out of his pocket.

"God, you are so predictably…_male,_" Tabby said, rolling her eyes as she made a grab for the van's keys, but Bobby held them out of her reach easily since he was a good head taller. "Let me drive!" she demanded.

"If I'm going to get busted for this, then I'm at least gonna have some fun doing it," Bobby said, unlocking the van and getting behind the wheel. Tabitha whooped in delight as Bobby fired up the engine.

"Let's go!"

***

_Kahuna Café, Honolulu, 9:45 am._

While Bobby Drake was risking his piloting probation in the hopes of seeing his mysterious water mutant again, the mutant in question was following Alex nervously into the Kahuna Café to meet his brother, Scott Summers for breakfast.

"Do I look all right," Darcy whispered urgently to Alex as they approached the door of the café. Alex glanced down at her carefully chosen outfit of a blue and white Hawaiian print halter-top and white denim skirt. The blue matching her ocean water eyes, and the white making her look even more tan. Darcy's hand fluttered up to readjust the banana clip holding her long dark brown hair up when she caught sight of her reflection in the café's window. She smoothed the one long blue strand of hair that framed the left side of her face absently, looking up to him for reassurance.

Alex resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her. Where most girls he knew - his own girlfriend included – asked that question as a means to fish for compliments, Darcy didn't. She really seemed to need the validation from him that she was acceptable and worthwhile. He wished he knew why, she really was a very pretty girl.

"You look fine. Don't worry; we're not dining with royalty, just my brother. And Scott doesn't bite…that hard," Alex couldn't resist teasing her, enjoying just a bit the way her eyes widened nervously. She took him so literally all the time. He debated tugging on one of the locks of hair that sprouted from her banana clip like a bird of paradise, but messing with her hairdo would probably just send her screaming right out the door she was so wound up.

He saw Scott rise up out of the booth he was sitting in to wave them over, and a wide grin split Alex's face at the sight of his brother. Alex bounded across the café in three big bounds to catch the taller man in a bear hug. Pounding him on the back as he 'aloha'd' him heartily, Darcy trailing in his wake like a ghost.

Scott watched as the slender dark haired girl slid into the booth after Alex when they finished greeting each other and introductions had been made, trying not to be obvious as he studied her. Alex had told him about the strange girl he'd found shortly after she'd recovered months ago. Scott had wanted to come then to offer the girl the opportunity to come to the Xavier Institute, but Alex had warned him that she was very sensitive about the subject of her mutation. For that reason Scott had assumed that she must have been one of those mutants unable to hide their difference from the general public, like Hank or Kurt. But other than eyes that were startlingly light colored – even to his red lenses – for her tan complexion and dark hair, she looked like any other high school girl. 

They made small talk after they ordered, Darcy not offering much to the conversation, and Scott waited until their breakfast was nearly done before broaching the subject of his visit. Alex having the whole time been repeatedly cutting his eyes to Darcy beside him in a not so subtle hint to his brother to get on with it.

"So, Darcy," Scott began in his most friendly tone, smiling reassuringly. "Where are you from?"

Darcy looked decidedly uncomfortable and looked to Alex before answering, but his brother just kept eating.

"Hawaii," she said simply. Scott sipped his coffee before continuing.

"Were you born here?" he rephrased. Darcy pressed her lips together, a small crease appearing briefly between her eyebrows. She shook her head.

"No, I was born in Iowa."

"Is that where your folks live?" Scott asked. Darcy's shoulders stiffened as she sat up very straight. Alex's eyes widening as he shook his head minutely. _Danger, danger! Don't go there!_ Alex's eyes seem to plead. 

"I don't care to discuss that," Darcy said politely, her fingers gripping her water glass. Scott wondered if anyone else noticed that the water in all of the glasses on the table had started to vibrate. Sending ripples across the surface like in that dinosaur movie. Scott tried a more direct approach.

"Alex has told me that you're having some difficulty learning to control your powers. The Xavier Institute can help you with that," Scott said quietly, even though there wasn't anyone else within earshot.

"I really don't want to discuss that, either," Darcy said in an equally soft, yet miserable voice. Alex chose that moment to jump into the discussion, pushing his plate away and turning sideways in the booth to face Darcy. 

"Listen to what he has to say, Darce. The Institute isn't about hiding your powers, they teach you how to develop them. They can help you fulfill your true potential." Alex said. Scott looked at him in amazement, this from the same young man that had wanted no part of that developmental help himself, yet here he sounded like a brochure.

Darcy looked cornered under the attention of both brothers. "If it's so great why aren't you going there, Alex?" Darcy muttered. Alex leaned back against the wall and considered.

"When Scott asked me to go to the Institute and become one of the X-men, it wasn't the right time for me, it still isn't. My life is here. But I considered it," Alex said thoughtfully.

Darcy continued to stare at the tabletop, the water in the glasses still shaking and swirling, reflecting the turmoil within her. Whirling like her mind. "My life is here too," Darcy argued. "Besides, my…_family_…is no longer financially responsible for me, I can't afford private school. And I won't ask your parents for something like that, Alex, they've already been too kind." Darcy finished, looking somewhat pleased at the out she'd found.

Scott tapped his fingertip against the table, leaning toward Darcy. "You don't have to worry about that. Professor Xavier is offering to sponsor you. All expenses paid."

"That's very generous of him, but he doesn't even know me," Darcy said, her hands twisting and shredding the paper napkins in her lap under the table. Paper snowflakes that floated down over her knees and rested on the tops of her feet in drifts.

"It doesn't matter, he wants to help you," Scott told her.

Darcy's brow furrowed. It didn't seem possible, why would a stranger be so eager to help her – a mutant – when her own family couldn't care less about her? What did this Professor hope to gain by teaching her to control her powers? She was useless unless she was near a large body of water, and then all she could do was move it around. What good was that? What did he want from her?

"But…why?" Unconsciously, Darcy's left hand reached out for her water glass, needing the contact with the contents within to soothe her agitation. Even the condensation on the outside of the glass helped, but Darcy was too stressed and the moment her fingers closed around the glass the contents of all three shot up into the air and then down. All over Scott.

"Oh my god!" Darcy squeaked, horrified, covering her open mouth with her hands. "I am so sorry!" Alex started laughing like a lunatic as Scott dripped, smiling gamely as he mopped his shirt with paper napkins.

"No harm done, its just water," Scott reassured her. "I'll dry." 

Darcy wrung her fingers. "But I didn't…I mean, I don't think that I…" she stammered, looking from Alex to Scott and back. "I didn't know I could do that!" she whispered intensely. Scott paused, as did Alex.

"Wait," Alex said, looking at her closely, "You mean to say, that you can make a tidal wave, but you didn't know you could make a glass of water dump on Scott's head?"

"Three glasses, I'd like to remind you," Scott added dryly.

Darcy bit her lower lip. "I don't know, I never tried. Making waves is easy when I'm in the sea, there's so much water around me I feel…powerful, I don't have to try that hard, it's just very tiring. I never tried moving water that I wasn't in."

"That's where the Institute can help you, especially if you don't yet know the full extent of your powers. You need to learn to control them. What if you had a nightmare and flooded half the Islands with a tsunami?" Scott asked. Darcy paled at the prospect, her mind filled with images of destruction, all caused by her. "I don't want to frighten you, but it's a real possibility. You wouldn't mean to do it, like I wouldn't mean for the destruction taking off my glasses would cause. But we have special abilities, so that means we have a responsibility to control those abilities so that others don't get hurt."

Tears, big and fat filled Darcy's blue eyes, their color changing from pale ice blue to gray-green, the color of stormy seas. "I don't want them!" she whispered raggedly, swiping at her tears with the back of her hand. "I _never_ wanted them! I wish I'd never left Iowa…I wish…" she trailed off with a sniffle, not wanting to follow that train of thought. Embarrassed to be crying in front of Alex's brother, she hopped up from the booth and left the café, rounding the corner of the building to the alley before crying in earnest.

A wad of napkins appeared in her tear filled vision a few minutes later and she looked up to see Alex standing before her, his expression concerned, just like it was when she woke up in his house. It seemed Alex Masters had been concerned for and about her since minute one. Was she really so hopeless?

"Thanks," she croaked, taking the napkins and blowing her nose.

"Someone really hurt you with regards to your powers, didn't they?" Alex asked gently. Darcy didn't respond. "Someone in Iowa?" he continued, the question sounding more like a statement. Darcy folded her arms over her chest and studied her shoes, reluctant to even think about what happened, much less discuss it. Even with the person she trusted more than any other. Alex sighed. "Will you do something for me?" he asked. 

She nodded, not trusting her voice to not sound like a rusty chain. 

"I've invited Scott and some of the people from the Institute over tonight for a bonfire/beach party thing, will you at least talk to them? Hear what they have to say about the Institute." Alex said. Darcy's heart beat faster. Aside from Alex and now his brother, Darcy had never met another mutant before. What could she possibly have to say to strangers whose only similarity to her was that they shared a gene that made them hated and persecuted by those who didn't?

Alex saw the panicked look in Darcy's eyes and he pulled her into a brotherly hug. "They're nice people, you'll like them," Alex promised. "Will you at least think about the Institute?"

Darcy stayed tense, at war with wanting to deny what she was, what made her different, and Scott's words about responsibility. But wasn't admitting she was a mutant akin to painting a big target on her back?

"_Kaikuahine…_" Alex murmured, rubbing her back lightly. _Sister…_ And in so many ways too, since they were both mutants. "For me?" What could she say to that?

"I'll think about it."

***

_Xavier Institute for Gifted Children, Bayville, NY, 6:30 pm._

The sun slanted through the tall windows of the library, still high enough in the sky, but the days were getting shorter as fall crept closer. The warm wind rustled leaves just getting ready to turn, and it was a perfect day.

The Institute was quiet for a change, the about-to-be seniors off on the study vacation to Hawaii with Beast and Scott, and most of the underclassmen hadn't yet returned from a basic survival training session with Logan. 

Basking in the solitude, Jean Grey was curled up with a cup of tea and a mystery novel she'd been dying to find time to read when the phone rang. Jean considered ignoring it, she couldn't remember the last time she had any down time to herself, but knew it was Scott calling so she had to answer.

Marking her place in the book, she cheated, using her telekinesis to bring the phone to her, rather than move from her comfy spot. "Hi Scott," she said, putting the receiver to her ear.

"You know, one of these days you're going to do that and it might actually _not_ be me." Scott's rich voice said into her ear. Jean smiled to hear her boyfriend's voice, personal time or not, she missed him when he was gone.

"Never say that to a telepath, you know better…" she teased him in a throaty chuckle. "How's Alex?" she asked, once the pleasantries were out of the way.

"Taller, tanner, and blonder than the last time I saw him, but other than that he's the same old Alex. Finally going to turn pro next year with his surfing," Scott said. Jean could see him in her mind, whether it was actually him or her memories of him she could picture him in a hotel room, kicked back on the bed with the phone.

"How did the recruitment go?" Jean asked.

"Well," Scott sighed, "As recruitments go, we've had better. But then again we've had worse."

"What happened?"

Scott told Jean about Darcy's reluctance to join the Institute, about her evasiveness about her background. He even told her about getting soaked. Jean was concerned when Scott relayed that Darcy had said she wasn't aware she could manipulate water without physically touching it.

"Alex had a good idea however, that it might be good for her to meet with some of the students and talk to others like her, it might sway her to come back east with us." Scott said.

"Are her powers that strong?" Jean asked, picking up on the concern in Scott's voice.

"I don't know. I'm not even sure she knows. She could be powerful, or her mutation could be very limited. Alex and I spent a couple of hours with her after breakfast in a kind of informal training session. If she wasn't aware she could move water without contact before she's picking up the skill very quickly. We had her forming basic shapes out of a bucket of water in two hours." Scott told her.

"Do you think she lied about her abilities?" Jean asked.

"No, I don't think so. Her surprise was genuine. If she'd tell us more about her background then I could make a better call," Scott sighed. "I just hope we can convince her that coming to the Institute is the best thing for her."

"Don't push too hard, Scott," Jean gently suggested. Scott chuckled.

"No, I'm not going to bag and gag her or anything. But I think we should do everything we can to convince her to come. I think that mutants with these kinds of abilities, like Storm, like Darcy, need the training and discipline more than others."

"So they stay on the right side?" Jean asked lightly, keeping the tone teasing. But Scott knew what Jean was alluding to.

"Jean, the girl can make a tidal wave with her toes in the water, and yet it took her over an hour to be able to make a sphere out of water in a bucket. What do you think?" 

Jean twisted the cord around her finger. "Control the power before it controls you…" she murmured.

"Exactly," Scott agreed.

"I'll let the Professor know his concerns were founded, but do what you think is best to convince her in the meantime." Jean told him. "So…how was the flight over? Bobby pull any stunts this time?" Jean asked, changing the subject.

"Nope." 

"You think he's finally given up on all the hotdogging?" Jean asked, knowing Scott's dislike of the Iceman's "balls to the wall" flying style. She found it rather amusing herself. Scott gave a derisive snort. 

"Not a chance." 

***

AN: Thanks to: Tyriel, RavenPhoenixFire, Camille, Maxine-chan, and my usual crew of faithful *cough*threatenedintoit*cough* readers; Ashley, Brandon B, Namek Kaia, djfusion, and my sister Rei. 

Keep that feedback coming! ^_^


	3. Deep Ocean Smile

Disclaimer: XME is still not mine. Darcy is though.

**Melt Me**

Chapter Three: Deep Ocean Smile

***

_Masters House, Oahu, 8:00 pm._

Having grown up in a small town, Darcy was used to the fact that everyone knew everything about everyone else. It was just the way small towns were run. It was impossible to just melt into anonymity for anyone, but especially for the right Reverend Hollis Harper's lovely daughter Darcy. 

She was popular. She was arguably the most beautiful girl in the school. She was captain of the swim team and expected to make all-state by her senior year. She was on the honor roll. Every aspect of her life was known and commented on by the town's gossips. When Jackson Meyer, the captain of the Varsity football team – even a small town like Dry Bluff took their football seriously – had asked Darcy to his senior prom, and she only a sophomore at the time. Dry Bluff had been a buzz with talking about it for weeks, making Darcy feel like a bug in a jar.

Sort of like how she felt meeting the students of the Xavier Institute.

Dry Bluff didn't have mutants. Mutants were something that happened in big cities, a blight on God's humanity according to her father, something that should be shunned and degraded, and never, ever, discussed.

For that reason, Darcy was completely caught off guard by the eager friendly faces of Amara, Jamie, Sam, Roberto, and Ray that had surrounded her on the beach mere moments after their arrival at the Masters House for the party. They had rapid fired questions at her so fast she couldn't even respond before someone else asked her something. It was overwhelming.

They had seemed to want to know everything about her, especially what her powers were. And here Darcy had thought that she was supposed to be asking them questions.

The beach the Masters family's house backed up to was relatively private and secluded for Oahu, but still Darcy stared openmouthed as Amara Aquilla lit the pile of pallets and logs that filled the fire ring she and Alex had made by boldly throwing a ball of fire into it. Never wanting to be outdone, Roberto da Costa had then transformed before her very eyes, his body seeming to absorb the setting sun until he was cloaked in black and surrounded by fire.

Amara and Roberto's demonstration had prompted Ray Crisp to put on an electrical lightshow for her, blue arcs of lightning dancing over the bonfire in the setting sun. She looked to either side of her to meet four copies of Jamie Madrox's blue eyes smiling back at her adoringly.

"I can propel myself through the air really fast," Sam Guthrie told her in a softly accented drawl when she turned to him. "I'll show you some other time when there's more room to move," he said with a lopsided grin. 

"So what can you do?" One Jamie asked her, the other three resting their chins on their hands as they smiled at her.

"Um…" Darcy stalled, looking up toward the brightly lit house helplessly, looking for Alex to come and rescue her, but he was deep in conversation with his brother. "Can I show you later?" she answered lamely.

"Do you think you'll join the Institute?" Amara asked her, sitting down on the log beside Darcy after she shoved one of Jamie's "clones" out of the way.

"I, uh…don't know," Darcy told her honestly, completely shaken to her foundation by these people her own age that were so accepting and matter of fact about their powers that they showed them openly on a semi-private beach. This time last year the biggest question in her life had been whether she should take Spanish or French as an elective her Junior year. Now, her whole world was upside down and she wasn't the person she'd been. She was a mutant, contemplating traveling across the country to live and train with other mutants. It boggled her mind. 

On the other side of the bonfire, Ray and Roberto were getting into a heated discussion that seemed to want to escalate into a full-blown fight. Darcy glanced over nervously, but Amara seemed unconcerned. "Ignore them, they do this all the time. It's the way they communicate, being stubborn pig-headed males," Amara said matter of factly. Jamie snorted with laughter behind his hand.

"What did you say?" Roberto demanded loudly from the other side of the fire.

"I SAID…" Amara repeated stridently, fisting her hands on her slim hips.

With that all pandemonium seemed to cut loose. Roberto and Amara arguing loudly in a language Darcy was unfamiliar with. Sam smiling at her shyly as he beat a tattoo on his knees like they were a drum kit. And in the middle of it all there suddenly seemed to be a lot of round glowing embers on the ground around the bonfire.

"Oh boy," Jamie muttered next to Darcy right before he jumped on top of her, pushing her back off the log and into the soft sand. Darcy sputtered, trying to free herself from underneath several Jamie's, _one_ of whom she didn't know well enough for this kind of thing when several small explosions around the bonfire sent a swath of sand to rain down on top of them.

"I'm here!" a female voice caroled, "time to get the party started!"

"Dangit, Boom-Boom, you almost set my hair on fire again!" Sam yelled, the others chorusing in their complaints about her entrance.

Jamie helped Darcy up, smiling apologetically for jumping on her, while Darcy attempted to brush the sand off her face and out of her hair.

"Why, Jamie…" the mysterious Boom-Boom crooned, "you'll never get anywhere if you have to wrestle them into submission." Boom-Boom laughed, and then caught sight of Darcy. "Looky here, a newbie."

Darcy spit the blue strand of her hair out of her mouth and tried not to glare at the blonde girl in front of her. So far her first impression of Boom-Boom wasn't a favorable one.

"Tabby, this is Darcy. She's thinking about coming back to the Institute with us," Amara said quickly. Jumping in to defuse the sudden tension. "Darcy Harper, I'd like you to meet Tabitha Smith."

Tabitha gave the dark haired girl in front of her a thorough once over and then smiled widely, like Darcy had passed some unknown inspection. "Call me, Tabby…or Boom-Boom, whichever you prefer," Tabby said, sticking her hand out to shake Darcy's. Despite her initial hesitation, Tabitha's sudden friendliness put Darcy at ease and she smiled back shyly, shaking the blonde's hand.

"Very nice to meet you," Darcy said. Tabby stuck her hands in the back pockets of her shorts and grinned.

"Sorry about my little entrance, I wouldn't have done it if I'd known you were sitting right there."

"How about apologizing to _us_ then, Boom-Boom?" Ray yelled, still brushing himself off. Tabitha shrugged.

"Don't be such a big baby…"

"So, Tabby, what happened to you and Bobby? Where have you guys been all day?" Amara asked.

"Yeah! You guys ditched us at the Botanical Gardens and we had to take the shuttlebus back. The bus! You ever ride the bus with Mr. McCoy?" Ray asked darkly, folding his arms across his broad chest.

"Nope," Tabitha said airily, like she could care less.

"Well, I wouldn't recommend it. It's not exactly a 'low profile' experience," Roberto snorted.

"Where is Bobby?" Sam asked in his soft drawl. Tabitha jerked her thumb toward the house.

"Ice-B is up there getting a new one chewed by Scott and Mr. McCoy," Tabby laughed. "They were on him like white on rice."

"Poor Bobby," Amara said.

"Who is Bobby?" Darcy asked Amara quietly. Amara leaned in closer as Tabby turned on the boom box she'd carried down to the beach with her, the loud music blasting out of the speakers.

"Bobby is another of the Institute's students and an official member of the X-men. He can project extreme cold and make ice." Amara told her.

Ice. Like the ice that had coated the side of the black jet in the shape of a heart the night before? Was he the pilot she'd flirted shamelessly with? How embarrassing! Darcy felt heat creep up her cheeks. The Reverend's daughter would never have done anything like that, flirting with a total stranger, but she'd felt so free and anonymous out there in the sea, it had seemed harmless. She hoped he wouldn't recognize her; she wouldn't be able to stand the mortification.

She shot to her feet abruptly. "I-I…think I'll go get something to drink," Darcy explained, answering Amara's questioning look. The other girl smiled and nodded before turning back to watch Boom-Boom dance wildly around the fire like a pagan.

Darcy took a couple of minutes in the cool dark kitchen to compose herself, looking out the window over the sink at the party. The sun had finally set, cloaking the beach in darkness beyond the blazing pyre. Darcy watched as the teens danced around the fire, Tabitha's irrepressible personality rubbing off on the others. And Amara kept adding to the blaze, making it climb higher and higher into the sky.

"They do get rather carried away at times, but they're good kids," a voice came out of the darkness behind her. Darcy jumped and turned, startled that she'd been snuck up on. "I'm sorry I startled you. I came to introduce myself, I'm Hank McCoy, one of the instructors at the Xavier Institute."

Darcy's eyes widened and widened, until it seemed they would fall out of her skull as she stared at the man who moved forward out of the shadows. Extending his huge hand to shake hers and smiling, yet all Darcy could see was that he was big, blue and furry. His smile exposing some large and decidedly pointy looking canines.

"Eep!" Darcy squeaked, cramming herself back against the sink in fright, even as her brain was processing that he said he was an instructor at the Institute, her sheltered upbringing was taking over.

Hank held out his hands, palms forward in a soothing motion, making shushing noises at the frightened girl, but Darcy's brain had reached its limit for the day and she bolted, to the side and around the big furry man. Her bare arm brushed his as she ran past and all she could think was that his fur was soft, even as blind panic propelled her out the door and down the beach.

"Nice to meet you, too," Hank sighed. Turning to rejoin the others at the party. 

Darcy ran, past the ring of light thrown by the bonfire and into the darkness as she angled away from the house and toward the sea. She really needed to feel the water, to let the rhythm of the sea infuse her with its strength. 

She stepped onto the backwash of the surf, her mutant powers allowing her to manipulate the surface tension so she walked on the waves like a water strider, her feet bending the surface of the water, but not breaking it.

The moon, a day past full, was rising over the sea making the water glitter and sparkle. Darcy took several deep breaths, forcing her frazzled nerves to settle. Breathing in the scent of the sea, she could feel the surf breaking out over the reef like a second pulse. The sea was alive to her in ways that water in a bucket never could be, there was a deeper dimension to the ocean, a more ready power. Perhaps that was why it was so much easier to manipulate.

She glanced down and saw that she had transformed again, she looked as if made of liquid. She wasn't transparent, but she certainly wasn't solid anymore either. She didn't know yet what triggered the transformation – she wish she did – if nothing else so she could be certain it would never happen again. It had caused her nothing but trouble so far.

Darcy stared out to sea, debating going for a ride on the waves, to go so far out there was nothing but she and the sea again, but she knew she should get back to the party. And, she realized with a cringe of chagrin, she owed someone an apology, now that she had calmed down. She was turning back toward the beach when a voice stopped her.

"Don't move, I'm almost done…"

"Whu--?" Darcy asked confused, spinning in place to look behind her. As she did what she saw surprised her so much she broke her concentration, and the surface tension of the water as she dropped with a startled yelp into the hip deep backwash like a rock. 

Her mouth fell open as she looked up to see…herself. There at the water's edge, sparkling in the moonlight was an ice sculpture of a girl poised at the crest of a wave. The face was just a suggestion, but everything else was amazingly duplicated in the solid ice. She couldn't look away from the crystalline surface as it caught the ambient light.

So taken was she with this amazing sight that she gave little thought for a moment to it's creator as she walked dreamily out of the surf.

"Like Venus rising…" he murmured, and the sound of his voice snapped her out of her daze and she fixed her gaze on the young man before her at last.

He was good looking, she could tell that immediately, even in the dim light. His hair and eyes were dark; his build that of a baseball player, lean and muscled, and when he smiled at her she could see a hint of the devil in his eyes.

"Did you…_make_ this?" she stammered, tearing her eyes away from the handsome young man before her to look up at the ice maiden again. 

"Yeah, I was just getting to the face when you turned…" he replied.

She was about to ask how, and then realized that she already knew. "Are you…?" she asked, blushing in the dark. 

"Bobby Drake," he said, and her heart skipped a little.

I'm Darcy, Darcy Harper," she said lamely.

"I'm glad to finally meet you, face to face." His teeth flashed white at her as he smiled, and her consternation grew.

"Face to face?" she repeated weakly, so much for her hope that he wouldn't recognize or remember her. Rather than answer, Bobby kept smiling and held his hand out. As she watched, ice seemed to envelop and shoot from his hand, glowing eerily. Darcy stared in open amazement as he formed a small replica of the jet she'd seen the night before.

"How do you _do_ that?" Darcy breathed; she was completely blown away by his ability. Especially remembering how she had struggled earlier just to form a simple sphere from water in a bucket, and here Bobby could make complicated objects effortlessly.

"I'm a mutant, like you are. I just project cold and freeze the air or water around me, that's why they call me the Iceman," he told her grinning, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his shorts as he looked over his handiwork briefly. 

She reached out and touched the slick ice tentatively. She understood that his mutant power allowed him to make ice out of thin air or water, but she was still astonished at the complexity of the objects he formed. Could she learn to do that?

"How do you…shape it so?" she asked, turning back to him. His dark hair fell over his forehead boyishly and his dark eyes shone in the moonlight. He was almost as breathtaking to her as his sculptures. 

Bobby shrugged. "I just picture what I want it to look like in my mind, and that's the way it comes out. Can't you do the same with water? Form shapes?"

Darcy shook her head. "No, not really. Well, I'm not sure…I might, I guess. I made a sphere today…" she babbled. She didn't have to worry about being embarrassed about her behavior the night before; she was doing a splendid job of embarrassing herself right now. Bobby stood there patiently. "I don't really know how to use my powers."

"Really? You seemed totally in control last night, that wave was huge."

Darcy blushed again, at once both strangely nervous and excited. Not just because Bobby was really good looking – even better than her imagination had painted from the glimpses she'd seen of him in the jet – but because he had the one thing over his powers that she didn't…control.

"When I'm in the sea, I don't even have to try…I think 'wave' and there is one." Darcy tried to explain. Bobby nudged her with his elbow lightly, smiling mischievously.

"Surfers must follow you everywhere," he joked. Darcy chuckled.

"Just Alex. But he won't let me do any really big ones, afraid I'll show him up on them I bet."

"You surf?" Bobby asked, then smacked himself on the forehead. "Dumb question, Drake." Darcy giggled.

"I can ride waves the conventional way too, yes. Alex taught me how when I came here."

"You didn't surf at home?" Bobby asked her.

Darcy tucked the blue strand of her hair behind her ear as she sobered. "I'm from Iowa," she explained. "Do you surf?" she asked him, eager to change the subject and keep the conversation rolling.

Bobby shook his head. "Only on ice. I'm from Boston."

Darcy tipped her head to the side as she smiled at him. "I'm guessing you're more of a 'winter sports' kind of guy," she said.

Bobby's eyes were locked on her face like she'd suddenly turned liquid again or something and she glanced down to make sure, but she was still plain old solid Darcy. 

"Something like that," Bobby said quietly. Something in his voice making her stomach flutter. She'd felt this before, attraction, but never this strong, this soon. She swallowed nervously.

"Bobby! Where did you go?"

"Hey, Iceman?"

"Bobby-Pop, come dance with me already!" 

A chorus of voices called from nearby. Darcy recognizing the last as coming from Tabitha and she turned toward the fire farther down the beach. His friends must be looking for him to join the party and she was slightly disappointed that their conversation would end.

"Come on," Bobby said suddenly and grabbed her hand, towing Darcy after him as he ran down the beach away from the party. Farther into the darkness until the bonfire was out of sight around the curve of the beach.

"Where are we going?" Darcy gasped, trying to keep her seawater soaked shorts from chafing her as she kept up with him. Bobby slowed once they were well out of hearing and eyesight of his nosy friends, but he didn't let go of her hand. 

"Nowhere. I just…wanted more time to get to know you first…alone."

"Oh," she breathed.

Darcy glanced up, wishing it were lighter. Not just so that she could see if he was blushing like she suspected he was, but she was curious to know what color hair and eyes he had. She couldn't tell in the bluish moonlight. She squeezed his fingers lightly, and he looked over and smiled at her. 

"Your friends are…nice," Darcy said, when they had strolled along in silence for a few minutes. It seemed lame to say so, but she had no idea what to say to the handsome young man beside her. True, she'd been one of the most popular girls in her school, but none of the farm boy football players had ever made her heart race this fast.

"They are - they're nuts - but they're nice," Bobby chuckled. Darcy chewed her lip.

"I owe your teacher an apology, though. I was…rude." Darcy said chagrined. "I should have been more…" she trailed off.

"Diplomatic?" Bobby offered.

"I was going to say open minded. It's no excuse, but I've never seen anyone – any mutants – that didn't look…" Darcy flapped her free hand helplessly. 

"Normal?"

Darcy nodded miserably. "I'm a terrible person."

"No, you aren't. Mr. McCoy's looks can be a little intimidating if you aren't ready for them. I didn't flinch when I saw him the first time, but I'd been warned. Did anyone tell you what to expect?" Bobby asked her, as he steered her toward some flat-topped rocks near the water's edge. 

Darcy hopped up on the rocks with Bobby's help and they went and sat side by side at the end, the small waves breaking a foot or two below their bare feet, and she could feel the spray on her dangling toes. "No," she answered him softly when they were settled. "It's still no excuse and I do owe him an apology."

"Don't worry, he'll forgive you. It's the kind of guy he is." Bobby leaned back on his hands and looked up toward the stars, while Darcy watched him surreptitiously from the corner of her eye.

"Alex's brother asked me if I wanted to go along with the group when you go over to Maui tomorrow." Darcy mentioned casually. "Your teacher wants to take the Pipiwai Trail and hike to Waimoku Falls, I heard."

Bobby had been smiling at her, but when he heard the word "hike" his expression fell. "Hiking?" he groaned, "there's better things to do in Hawaii than hike. I can hike at home."

Darcy giggled. "Like what then? What would you rather do than hike through a bamboo forest to see a 400 foot waterfall? I hear it's really pretty."

"I dunno…I kinda wanted to go surfing while I was here. I never have before and it looks pretty fun." Bobby said, laying back on the rock and folding his arms behind his head.

"You should stay here then and learn from Alex. He's almost pro you know. Besides, Maui isn't as good for surfing." Darcy told him.

"It is if you're there," Bobby said with a grin. Darcy's smile felt frozen on her face. She didn't know quite how to respond to that. Did he only want her along so that she could make waves for him? Alex asked her occasionally to "improve" lousy surf when he needed to practice, but for the most part she tried to leave the surf alone when she could.

"We should get back to the party. Your friends will wonder where you are," Darcy said stiffly as she got up. Without waiting for Bobby she hopped down from the rock and slowly started walking back down the beach. She shouldn't be surprised that Bobby would only want her around when he went surfing so the waves would be good, it seemed to be the only thing she was good for. 

"Hey, wait up," Bobby called, trotting to catch up with her. He took her hand again automatically, lacing his fingers with hers and making her heart jump up into her throat. "Did I say something to upset you?" Bobby asked, smiling at her warmly.

Darcy looked up into his dark eyes and felt like an idiot. Maybe she was reading too much into his words – it was probable, she barely knew him after all – but she was wary. Bobby seemed almost too good to be true, handsome, confident, and seemingly interested in her. There had to be a catch, there always was.

"No," Darcy sighed, looking back down at the sand. 

"Do you want to go with me tomorrow?" Bobby asked her. Darcy bit her full lower lip, biting off the immediate and enthusiastic "yes!" that wanted to burst from her mouth.

"Well…there are lots of really neat pools for swimming near the Waimoku Falls, I've heard. I…kinda wanted to see them," Darcy said shyly. Bobby squeezed her fingers lightly.

"Cool. We'll do that then. We can go surf another day, maybe."

Relief bloomed in her chest, and with it some self-recrimination for her quick assumption of the worst. She didn't used to be like this. "Okay."

"Check it out," Bobby said suddenly, and pointed to the sand in front of them. A blue glow emanated from his hand and finger and a sheet of ice formed over the wet sand. Bobby stepped onto the ice and pulled Darcy along with him. "Hang on!" he warned her, and the next thing she knew they were sliding, almost flying over the beach on the ice skid Bobby was making. It reminded her of how she rode her swells.

She hung on to the waist of Bobby's shorts as they slid along the slick ice like it was a toboggan run, curving and looping back like some crazy roller coaster. It occurred to her, as she was being towed along behind him, that his ice was nothing more than frozen water and experimentally she let go of him, expecting that she'd suddenly find the slippery ice treacherous and wind up on her ass in the sand twenty feet below. Instead she suddenly became more aware of the thin skin of water that remained on Bobby's ice and she used it, halting her progress at the apex of the big ramp Bobby was making as he raced ahead and curved left, banking back down to the ground.

Bobby stepped off his ice and looked back; obviously surprised she was no longer with him. With a smile she stepped off from the top, shooting down the slide even faster than he had, and she leaned into the turn at an almost 45° angle. It was just like surfing. 

Bobby caught her under the arms when she came shooting off the end of his slide, keeping her from winding up face first in the sand with the sudden and abrupt change of texture.

"Fun," Darcy said breathlessly. Not sure if it was so much from the thrilling run down the ice, or the way Bobby still held her by the armpits. His wrists almost brushing the outer swell of her breasts, and her hands came to rest lightly against his biceps.

"Nobody has ever been able to ride my ice like that, at least not without hanging on to me," Bobby told her. Admiration was in his voice, but his eyes were what caught and held her motionless as they looked deeply into hers.

"Ice is still just water…" she said dreamily, and Bobby smiled.

The cheers and calls of the other students as they jogged down the beach toward Bobby and Darcy broke the moment and he let go of her, his palms brushing her waist as he let his hands fall.

"That was so awesome!" Amara said when she skidded to a stop beside Darcy. "We saw the whole thing! You rode that slide better than Bobby!"

"Hey!" Bobby protested, but Amara ignored him. The others gathering around Darcy as they told her how cool they thought her trick had been. And Darcy smiling and nodding as best she could as she tried keeping up with the exuberance of five teenaged mutants all vying for her attention.

"I saw that, you know…" a voice drawled in Bobby's ear as he stood outside the group and watched. Tabby looped her arm through his as she sidled up to him. "You were thinking about kissing her. How many girls _can_ you string along at once, Frosty?" Tabby teased him. "Maybe I should help you out and make the newbie jealous…what do you think?" Tabby purred, pulling down on his arm to tug his upper body closer.

"Boom Boom, cut it out," Bobby hissed, trying to extract his arm from Tabitha's grasp before Darcy could see, but when he glanced up he saw that both Darcy and Amara were watching Tabby's little spectacle. 

Darcy turned her face away and toward Amara's quickly, like she didn't want to see what was before her. "Do you know where your teacher is?" Darcy asked her. "I need to talk to him before tomorrow."

Amara smiled widely. "Sure, he's up talking to Scott. Come with me and I'll take you up there. Are you coming with us to Maui tomorrow?" Amara asked, her voice fading away as she and Darcy walked off into the darkness back toward the house. Jamie and Roberto following along behind them. 

"Nice job, Tabby," Bobby grumbled, watching Darcy walk away without so much as a backwards glance at him. "When are you going to learn to stay out of my business?"

Tabitha flapped her hand at him in that insolent gesture that bugged the hell out of him. "Oh, don't be that way," she told him saucily. "I'm doing you a favor."

"A favor?" Bobby's tone one of disbelief. Tabby put a finger under his chin as she smiled at him.

"Hot _and_ cold, Iceman. You gotta learn to play it hot and cold to keep their interest. It's a concept even _you_ should be able to handle." Blowing him a kiss, Tabby turned and sauntered back toward the bonfire after Ray and Sam. 

Shaking his head and throwing up his hands he followed them. _With friends like Tabby…_

***

Next chapter: Off to Maui!

AN: Reviews, even short ones would be greatly appreciated. And a very big hug and thank you goes to Rurouni Tyriel – my font of all XME knowledge – for consistently reading and putting up with my blather and incessant Bobby 'shipping. ^_^

Also! I have done two fanarts of Darcy Harper, link available on my bio page (since URL's don't want to display here…)

Until next time, keep those reviews coming!


	4. Water Falls

Disclaimer: XME is still not mine. Darcy is though.

**Melt Me**

Chapter Four: Water Falls

***

_Somewhere on the Hana Highway, Eastern Maui, Saturday morning._

On the windward side of Maui, where rain showers develop quickly and frequently, often turning a sunny morning foul and back to beautiful again in the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee and watch the morning news. The most reliable forecast in the Islands is usually a look out the window.

Hank McCoy switched the woefully underpowered windshield wipers onto high as he squinted at the road ahead, even at full strength the squeaking and groaning blades did little to dissipate the sheet of water that ran down the van's windshield. Hank let off on the gas, slowing the large rental van as he negotiated the twisting coastal road.

"Looks like we're going to have some rain for our outing today," he said mildly, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the dark haired girl riding shotgun beside him.

"It always rains. Give it five minutes and it'll be sunny again," Darcy Harper told him. She tucked a lock of her long hair behind her ear and leaned forward toward the window, peering ahead intently. "Oh! I can see the top of Haleakala now! We're getting close to the turnoff I think…" she lowered her head to study the map spread carefully out on her lap.

Hank peered through the pouring rain and up at the mountain on their right. Haleakala, considered to be the largest dormant volcano on the planet, dominated the southeastern portion of Maui, yet its top had been shrouded in mist and rain clouds ever since they had set out from Hana earlier that morning. Luckily, they had brought the rental van they had procured in Oahu along for the day - transported safely in the belly of the X-jet – since the only inconspicuous flat spot to land and camouflage the jet had been a long and prohibitive hike to the car rental counter. Outside, the rain lightened to a sprinkle and then trailed off, leaving the protesting wiper blades to squeak noisily over the glass.

"See? Toldya," Darcy said matter of factly, without looking up from her map. 

Ever since her heartfelt and effusive apology the night before, the new girl had become quickly at ease with Hank, like all new students did once they got to know him. It was their very familiarity that almost allowed him to forget that he could no longer pass for human. It took certain little jarring reminders, like Darcy's terrified initial reaction to him, or being forced to take semi-public transportation to prompt him.

Remembering that little joyous experience from the day before, Hank glanced in the rearview mirror at the three rows of bench seats behind him, once again tuning in to the boisterous laughter and joking around of the students. One in particular didn't look so happy, and Hank wondered if not getting to fly the jet or drive the van might actually get Bobby to learn his lesson. But since that idea had about as much chance as a snowball in hell, Hank made a mental note to keep the keys to the van in his pockets this time.

In the very back seat of the van, Bobby Drake sulked silently as he stared out at the lush vegetation that lined the highway. He wasn't that upset about not getting to fly that morning, the flight time from Oahu to Maui was trivial. You barely had time to get settled in your seat before the jet was descending to land in the jungle. Getting chewed out by Scott and Mr. McCoy the night before was trivial too, Bobby was an old hand at getting himself out of trouble so he didn't think this 'no fly' punishment would last long. No, he was bugged because he was in the back of the van sitting with Sam, when he really wanted to be sitting with his water mutant. Whom, he was thrilled to the core to notice, looked even better in daylight.

He could only catch glimpses of her through the crowded van; Tabby, Jamie, and Amara's heads were in his way. He'd thought he'd been pretty smooth when they'd unloaded the van, jumping in first and claiming the back seat. He wanted Darcy to sit with him since it was nearly an hour's drive from where they'd left the jet outside Hana to the turnoff for the Pipiwai Trailhead. 

He'd smiled at her as everyone milled about before getting in the van, hoping without being obvious that she'd get the message that he wanted her to sit with him. But before she could, Sam and Ray had climbed in and claimed the rest of the backseat next to him. And before Bobby could do anything about _that_, Mr. McCoy had already asked her to be his navigator.

"Hey, Bobby," Sam said quietly, bringing him out of his brooding and he turned back around toward his best friend. "You talked to the new girl last night, right? Did she say what her powers were? She never told us and I'm kinda curious."

Despite Sam's soft tone, really only intended for Bobby's ears, the question caught the attention of Ray, who was on the other side of Sam, and Jamie and Tabitha who were sitting on the bench in front of them. Tabby turned around in the seat, to drape herself over the back of it. Her mischievous blue eyes telling Bobby she was just looking for an excuse to rub him the wrong way.

"She can make waves. She's a water manipulator," Bobby told them. Tabitha's grin widened.

"Does that mean she's all wet?" she drawled. Jamie giggled behind his hand while Bobby looked annoyed.

"Don't you have somebody else to bother?"

Tabby shrugged. "Not right this second." She informed him blithely.

"You think she's gonna get recruited?" Ray asked them all. "Is that why she's tagging along today?"

"I hope so," Sam said in his soft drawl. "We haven't had any pretty girls at the Institute in a long time." Tabitha snapped her gum in response, making Sam backpedal fast. "I meant _new_ girls, Boom-Boom…"

"Ooooo, I'm going to tell Amara and Jubes you said that, Sam," Tabby threatened mildly, while Sam held his hands up pleadingly and shook his head desperately.

"So do you think she's gonna get tapped?" Ray asked again. Jamie poked his head over the seat in front of Ray, his blue eyes bright.

"Probably, she _is_ a mutant. What do you think, Bobby?" Jamie asked.

"Maybe," Bobby shrugged, trying not to look too interested in the prospect. Ray leaned forward to look past Sam at Bobby.

"But why? I mean no offense, but, a water mutant? How would that help the team? And why go to all this trouble? When I got recruited all I got was Scott at my house. I didn't get invited along on a field trip," Ray complained. Tabby popped her gum noisily again.

"Jealous?" she asked him sweetly. Ray scowled at her. "Well, if you want to know what _I_ think, I remember hearing the Professor say he's concerned because she can't control her powers. And since she can control water and possibly cause floods and tidal waves and junk like that, he wants her at the Institute so she can learn some control. So I think she's definitely being recruited." Tabitha said smugly.

"When did you hear that?" Jamie asked. Tabitha shrugged.

"Couple of weeks ago. He was talking to Scott about it and I just _happened_ to overhear it," Tabby said with another shrug.

"I'll bet," Bobby snorted. 

"How come you can remember some conversation you eavesdropped on weeks ago, but you can't seem to remember you owe me fifty bucks?" Ray demanded loudly. Tabby looked aghast.

"Fifty? Fifty, my ass! It was twenty!" Boom-Boom retorted.

"Ha! You do remember!" Ray crowed triumphantly, "pay up, Boom-Boom."

The subject of Darcy's possible recruitment dismissed, Bobby ignored them as Tabby and Ray began loudly arguing about the validity and repayment terms of the debt. 

"I hope she comes to the Institute," Sam sighed quietly beside him. Bobby slanted him a look, he hoped his best friend wasn't getting ideas about possibly asking Darcy out or anything. _I saw her first, dude,_ he thought.

He lifted his head and looked up toward the front of the van and surprisingly saw Darcy's pale blue eyes. She was twisted around in the front seat - presumably to talk to Roberto and Amara whom were sitting right behind her – but at the moment her watchful gaze seemed to be on what was going on in the very back of the van. Bobby wondered if she'd overheard them discussing her, and he gave her a small smile and a wink, but she turned around in her seat to look at where they were going without acknowledging him. Maybe she hadn't been looking at him after all, and he found himself a little disappointed at the fact.

Darcy turned back to watch for the Pipiwai trail sign, trying not to feel self-conscious. She hadn't heard anything specifically over Roberto and Amara's conversation, except a lot of 'she's' that were coming from the back of the van that made the hair on the back of her head stand up, like they were talking about her. She'd stared hard at the back of Tabitha's head, trying not to look at Bobby. The memory of how the blonde girl had seemed so familiar with him was fresh in her mind. Darcy certainly didn't want to trespass if he was seeing someone else, but he hadn't seemed like he was in a relationship when they'd talked. And unless she was mistaken it had almost seemed like Bobby had wanted to kiss her the night before. 

She winced involuntarily when she heard Tabitha shriek "Bob-_by_!" from the back of the van. Unable to stand it, she glanced over her shoulder and saw Tabby writhing and screeching on the bench seat with her hand up the back of her t-shirt, while Ray and Bobby high-fived each other. Jamie was frantically trying to help Tabby get the chunk of ice off her back before he got kicked, which was inevitable considering how Tabby was thrashing around.

Darcy bit her lip to stifle a pleased grin as she turned back around in her seat. While she still wasn't sure of Tabitha's relationship with Bobby, she had to say that the blonde girl deserved the ice down her back, if for nothing else than the sand shower she'd given Darcy the night before.

***

_Pipiwai Trail, Waimoku Falls._

The wind rustled through the dense bamboo forest, turning the tall green stalks into a forest sized bamboo wind chime, clacking and ringing through the almost eerie twilight of the thick vegetation.

The students walked single file up steps carved into the soil as they hiked ever higher toward the waterfall. No one spoke as they passed through the forest, the musical twilight was almost mystical and to look straight up toward the sky was like being in a cathedral.

Amara eyed the peak of the volcano ahead nervously as they left the singing trees behind, the trail widening out so that they could walk in pairs or groups.

"I don't know about this, maybe I shouldn't be here," Amara fretted, walking between Bobby and Roberto.

"You heard Mr. McCoy, this volcano is extinct. So don't worry about it." Roberto said confidently, weaving across the path to take advantage of every patch of sun that filtered down through the trees.

"It's not extinct," Amara said softly. "It's just sleeping."

Bobby put his hand on her shoulder and grinned. "Then don't do anything that will wake it up. Like swimming in hot springs…" Bobby teased, reminding Amara of the trip a couple of years ago to the Caribbean. Amara relaxed, agreeing with Bobby. As long as she didn't do anything to agitate the sleeping giant there was no reason to worry. She just got a little paranoid around volcanoes sometimes.

At the front of the group, Darcy was still being kept occupied by Mr. McCoy, and she wondered how she could gracefully start dropping back through the ranks to walk with Bobby, whom she sensed was near the back when Hank changed the subject from the native flora to a more personal one.

"Scott has told me about your water manipulation powers, Darcy. I admit I'm intrigued. I hope you'll give us all a demonstration today. I think it would be fascinating," Hank said, smiling at the girl.

Darcy blushed. No one had ever said her powers were fascinating before. Cool, yes, work of the devil, definitely. But never fascinating. "Um…sure," she said shyly.

"Excellent. I'm looking forward to working with you when you come to the Institute as well," Hank said casually.

"I don't know if I'm going to be attending yet."

"Oh? Scott seemed to think that you would be. It seems that we have all been so curious about you that we probably haven't given you the chance to ask us any questions you might have about the Institute. Is there anything I can answer for you that might help you make up your mind?" Hank asked. Darcy shrugged, shifting the weight of her backpack on her shoulders.

"I don't really have any questions about the Institute I guess. Scott was pretty clear about things. That Professor Xavier wants to sponsor me. That I would live at the Institute, attend Bayville High for my senior year, and that I would learn to control my powers…" Darcy recited, as though reading from a list.

"But?" Hank prompted. Darcy's shoulders sagged, as though the weight of the world was on them. 

"But I still don't see why. I mean, why me? I can't do half of what the others can do. Why does he want me to go there so bad?" she asked miserably.

Hank stopped in the middle of the trail and put a hand on Darcy's arm. "Go on ahead, we'll catch up," he told the others when they caught up to them. Darcy didn't meet the curious gazes of the other students as they went by, until she saw Bobby's feet and she raised her head. Bobby smiled at her reassuringly as he went past and gave her a little wink. Making her feel much better.

"Darcy, how long have you known that you're a mutant? When did you first discover your powers?" Hank asked her when the others were out of earshot.

"Just about a year now," Darcy replied quietly. Hank nodded.

"I suspected so. It's always hard in the beginning, when you are first dealing with the fact that you suddenly aren't the person that you thought you were. I denied my mutation for a long time, but now it's staring me in the face and I have no choice but to deal with it," Hank said. Darcy squirmed uncomfortably. "But I can tell you that one of the best things has been being around people who accept you for what - and who - you are, because they're in the same boat you're in."

Darcy's head jerked slightly, like someone waking up without ever knowing they'd been asleep.

"Who better to understand and want to help, than another mutant? You've already seen evidence of that, have you not?" Hank asked her gently.

She nodded as she immediately thought of Alex, and everything that he, and his adoptive parents had done for her, a complete stranger. But Darcy's scars ran deep, making her suspicious and mistrustful of everyone's motives. She was tired of being that way, tired of being on edge. Maybe Alex and Scott had a point. Maybe she did need to be with other people like her.

Hank patted her softly on the arm and turned to walk on up the trail after the other students. "Take a few minutes if you need them. I'll be 'dismissing' class for a few hours when we get to the falls anyway."

Darcy watched as Hank moved swiftly up the hill, using all fours as he walked like a gorilla, and she felt for him. How much more awful things must be for a mutant whose physical appearance separated him from the general population. It made Darcy feel ashamed of her own self pity, however she justified it. 

Wiping her eyes on the bottom half of her tank top, Darcy followed slowly after, continuing on up the trail. The wind softly rustled the trees, but other than that it was completely quiet and still. Darcy picked up her pace a bit, trying to keep Mr. McCoy in sight, but his broad blue back disappeared around a curve in the trail eighty or ninety yards ahead. She wasn't sure why, but she suddenly didn't want to be alone out there.

There was a small break in the trees off to the left as Darcy approached the curve in the trail and she could see Mr. McCoy up ahead again. As she passed the break, a hand shot out and closed over her wrist, pulling her into the jungle. She sucked in a breath to scream, but a hand lightly covered her mouth.

Bobby's face appeared before hers and he held his finger to his lips. He took his other hand off her mouth and she took a ragged breath, trying to still her racing heart. She looked to him questioningly, and he poked his head out from between the trees to look up and down the path. Determining it was clear he ducked back into the narrow side path he'd been hiding on.

"All clear," Bobby told her, still keeping his voice down. 

"What are you doing? You scared the wits out of me!" Darcy whispered fiercely. Bobby grinned at her, still holding her by the wrist.

"Sorry about that, I didn't want you to give me away." Bobby turned and headed up the side trail, away from the main one that led to the falls, letting go of her. Darcy fell into step behind him, the trail too narrow to walk beside.

"Where are we going?"

Bobby flashed her another grin over his shoulder. "You said you wanted to go swimming today. I looked at the map and there's supposed to be a couple of pools up this trail."

"But what about…"

The Iceman reached back and caught her wrist; pulling her up close to him and then past to let her precede him up the trail. She could feel his hands on her shoulders and his breath near her ear as he leaned close, stirring the loose tendrils of hair on her neck.

"They won't even miss us," he said quietly. 

Her heart skipping, Darcy let Bobby propel her gently up the path a few steps to get her started before his hands fell away from her shoulders. Even though he was no longer actually touching her, she could feel the tingle on her skin outlining every inch they'd come in contact. She wondered why Bobby had wanted her to lead the way; she had no idea where they were going. But as she moved deeper into the trees she could feel the pools, the water calling to her and she understood.

They came to a bend in the path, but rather than follow it Darcy forged ahead, deeper into the forest as they cut around the southwest side of the falls, heading farther downstream. Darcy could feel it up ahead, a perfect corner of paradise, unknown and untouched and she walked faster. Slipping around trees and bamboo like a fish through the reeds.

Bobby trailed along in her wake the best that he could. He'd been enjoying his view behind her as they'd made their way up the narrow path, letting his eyes have their fill of her. But now, as he crossed his arms in front of his face to protect it from the sharp bamboo leaves he was starting to question the wisdom of leaving the trail. He pushed through a particularly dense bunch of bamboo and came up short when Darcy flung her arm out to the side, stopping him before he would have stepped off the twenty-foot cliff at the edge of the pool.

"Awesome," Bobby breathed. Taking in the spectacular scenery before him. On the far side of the pool, a small waterfall went its way through the rocks and vegetation before spilling gloriously into the deep blue pool below. Darcy turned and gave him a playful smile.

"Is this to your liking, sir?" she teased. 

Bobby grinned back; shrugging off the backpack he carried with his swim trunks and towel inside. Ducking behind some bushes, Bobby changed in record time. But Darcy still beat him; she must have been wearing her bathing suit under her clothes.

With a whoop, Bobby made an ice slide down the ragged face of the cliff and used it, sliding off the end to fall the last five feet into the center of the pool with a splash. 

"Come in!" he called up to her when he surfaced, flipping his wet hair out of his eyes. "The water is perfect!"

"Of course it is!" Darcy called back, and bypassing his slide jumped off the cliff's edge. But rather than plunging into the pool, the water seemed to rise up to meet her and gently lower her down until she stood on the water's surface in the center of the pool beside him.

Bobby treaded water, looking up at her. She wore a rather plain dark blue one-piece suit; unadorned and unremarkable, but to Bobby, as he looked up the length of her toned, tanned body, it was more alluring and seductive than a string bikini for all the skin that it hid. Darcy let her hair down, tugging out the barrette that had held it up and off her neck.

Grinning, Bobby reached underneath the foot closest to him and brought his fingers up to lightly run along the sole of her foot. She stepped away quickly, frowning at him.

"No tickling," she informed him. Bobby squinted up at her, the sun behind her so he couldn't see her expression. She was like Roberto at that moment, a dark shadow surrounded by light.

"Get in then," Bobby replied. Darcy tossed her barrette toward the rocks at the far side of the pool, and taking her sweet time – to torture him no doubt – dipped half of one foot below the surface as if testing the temperature. "That's it, time's up!" Bobby said playfully, and attacked, grabbing Darcy by the ankles and tugging. Like she had the night before when he startled her, she dropped into the water like a rock.

She came up behind him, quick as a fish in the water and lunged in retaliation, dunking him as she pushed his head down and somersaulted neatly in the water. Bobby came up sputtering.

"You'll never beat me in the water, you should just give up now," she laughed. Bobby shook the hair out of his eyes and narrowed them. 

"Wanna bet?" 

Darcy's eyes widened in response as the water around them suddenly plummeted several degrees from Bobby's iced up hands. She backstroked quickly to get out of range, but not quickly enough as with a grin Bobby dove at her. Splashing him she twisted away, slippery as an eel, but she felt his ice-cold hands as they brushed over her calves when he made a grab for her.

Diving deeper, she came up underneath him to grab his legs and pull, dunking him again. As she kicked for the surface, Bobby tried to push her under again as she passed, only to find himself on the receiving end of the dunking.

"Had enough?" she asked, when he came up for air after his fourth trip under. Bobby wiped the water out of his eyes and nodded.

"Yeah, I concede this round," Bobby said. Darcy smiled and stood on a submerged rock, bringing her torso up out of the water, their horseplay having ranged across the length of the deep pool to the shallower end near the small waterfall. When Darcy raised her arms to slick her hair back against her skull, Bobby took advantage.

"Round two!" he yelled and launched himself at her. Grabbing her around the waist as he knocked her off the rock and into deeper water. Spinning slowly, they sank toward the bottom together like a pair of entwined otters, locked in each other's embrace. Bobby was reluctant to let go of her to head back to the surface, much preferring the slight feel of her slender form in his arms, and the brush of her legs against his as she kicked to take them back to the top.

Pushing his hair out of his eyes, Bobby smiled at her; pleased he'd gotten the drop on his wily water mutant. Treading water slowly, they faced each other, their legs occasionally touching as they scissor-kicked, although Bobby noticed that Darcy seemed to need to expend a lot less effort to retain her position in the water than he did. Her eyes lowered, she pushed her arms forward, stroking backwards through the water toward the shallow submerged rocks again and she sat on one, her head and shoulders above the water. Bobby followed to sit beside her.

"This place is really great," he said looking around. "Although I don't expect we'll have it to ourselves indefinitely."

Darcy nodded; she fully expected that Bobby's friends would track them down sooner or later. Especially Tabitha, who seemed to have a talent for sniffing Bobby out like a bloodhound. An unexpected surge of jealousy rocked through her when she thought of the outgoing blonde. She had no right to feel jealous, after all she barely knew Bobby, but the little green monster wasn't listening.

"Give you a penny…" Bobby said, leaning his head down to be able to see her lowered face as she glared at the water.

"Can I ask you something?" she began quietly. Bobby nodded. "That, girl…Tabitha, is she your…girlfriend or something?" Darcy asked, catching her lower lip with her teeth nervously. Bobby made a strange sputtering choking sound and Darcy looked at him curiously. He looked as if she'd just asked him to eat a plate of mud.

"Hell no!" he said emphatically. "Tabby is just a friend. Sometimes better than others," he explained. Darcy cocked her head.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that Tabby lives to piss me off, plain and simple," Bobby explained. 

"Just you?" Darcy asked, watching him from the corner of her eye. Bobby's look of annoyance evened out.

"No, Tabby's fairly equal opportunity on whose skin she's going to get under."

"Oh," Darcy murmured softly, looking down again. She blushed, trying not to imagine what the Reverend would think of her being so bold with a boy she barely knew. But she wasn't in Dry Bluff anymore, and her father had no rights to dictate her behavior…not anymore. She almost jumped however when she felt Bobby's arm brush against her back as he propped it on the submerged rock behind her, leaning closer until her entire left side was touching his.

She saw Bobby's face moving closer out of the corner of her eye moments before his lips grazed her cheek in a light kiss. "Ask me," Bobby whispered.

Darcy turned her face to see his warm brown eyes just inches from hers. "Ask you what?"

"Whatever it is going through your mind," Bobby said with a small grin.

She took a shaky breath, a bit overwhelmed at her own reaction to his closeness. Every cell of her seemed to be aware of him, his sandy brown hair, his dark eyes, that rakish grin, those nicely muscled shoulders…

"D-do you…_have_ a girlfriend?" she asked, her blush deepening, and she turned to look him square in the eye at last. Bobby's grin deepened, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

"You applying for the job?" he asked playfully. Darcy's eyes widened with embarrassment and surprise, her lips parting. She certainly hadn't expected that response; she'd just wanted to make sure she wasn't setting herself up for disappointment, that's all.

"No! I…, I mean, I just…" she gulped, but Bobby saved her from further embarrassment. Leaning even closer until his face was right by hers, so close she could feel his breath against her lips and his velvet brown eyes slid closed.

"Just kiss me," Bobby whispered. 

Darcy tilted her chin forward until her lips just barely brushed his, her eyes sliding closed too. Bobby's lips moved over hers, teasing and soft as he kissed her back. The blood rushing through her body sounded like surf in her ears as he drew back with agonizing slowness and then kissed her again. 

She'd been kissed before, certainly. Chaste kisses that left her indifferent, and wet kisses that had left her with little desire for more than some lip balm and mouthwash. But this—this was something else.

Bobby gently ran his tongue along the soft skin of her inner lip, and Darcy lost all ability to think. All she could do was feel, and feel she did. Every inch of her tingled, buzzing and hot in contrast to the touch of Bobby's cool tongue against hers. His arm across her back moved to her waist, pulling her close to his side even as he drew back from her lips. Darcy licked her lower lip without thinking, not wanting to lose his taste while Bobby watched her through half open eyes, tracing her cheek with one chilled finger, making her shiver slightly with delight.

"Bobby…" she murmured, and he smiled.

"I like the sound of my name on your lips, it's the first time you've said it," Bobby told her, keeping his arm around her slender waist. He tilted his head down again to kiss her high cheekbone, and he could feel her blush, heating up his cool lips as he let them linger against her face.

"I don't know you that well," she explained, not looking at him. Bobby let go of her waist and took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers as they sat on a submerged rock, in a hidden pool on the side of a volcano, and Bobby felt it again. That sense that the moment was important - even if he didn't know why – and he held her fingers tighter.

"We could change that," he said quietly. Darcy looked at him questioningly, her eyes bluer than the sky or the sea, they were as blue as his ice. "If you decided you wanted to come to the Institute…we'd see each other all the time. We'd be going to the same High School, be in the same grade and a lot of the same classes…" Bobby trailed off.

"Are you trying to convince me to go…to recruit me, or because…you'd like me to go?" Darcy asked. Bobby smiled at her.

"Purely selfish reasons. I know I don't know you that well, Darcy, but I know enough to know that I want to. I want to know you…well," Bobby told her. Darcy flushed again at his words, her stomach filled with trapped butterflies.

"How well?" she asked shyly, looking up at him from beneath her lashes as she returned his smile. Bobby's answering grin made the corners of her mouth twitch with the urge to grin like a loon in response, but she sobered when his head descended to hers for another tender kiss.

"_Very_ well," Bobby murmured against her lips. 

In the bushes above the pool, Tabitha grinned and rubbed her hands together, a half dozen charges appearing between her palms like marbles and she started to stand up so she could toss them down into the pool and shake things up a bit. Bobby was looking a tad too serious down there as he talked to the new girl (and they were too far away for her to hear what they were discussing, anyway) for her taste.

Just when Tabby was about to liven things up, Bobby leaned in and kissed Darcy, and Ray stepped up from behind Tabby and grabbed her by the wrists, stopping her from tossing her party favors, even as she was closing her fists around them to reabsorb them.

"Don't," Ray said sternly, not letting go of Tabby's wrists until she'd dissipated the charges. "Leave them be."

Tabby slanted Ray a look over her shoulder, "I wasn't going to when I saw him kiss her. I'm not _that_ mean," Tabby said. Ray raised an eyebrow disbelievingly.

"Uh huh," he said sarcastically, and then turned to head back through the bushes to find the others. "Let's give them five minutes or so," Ray called back over his shoulder. He only made it about half a dozen steps before Tabby grabbed him by the arm, turning him back to face her.

"Why do you have such a low opinion of me, Ray?" Tabitha demanded, fisting her hands on her hips. 

"Maybe because you don't give a damn about anyone else's feelings but your own, Boom-Boom," Ray snapped, mirroring Tabby's aggressive posture. Her blue eyes narrowed.

"That's totally not true. Bobby knows I'm just goofing around, he doesn't take what I say or do seriously," Tabby said defensively. A muscle in Ray's jaw twitched, and for a minute Tabby was actually nervous, like Berzerker was going to do just that - go berserk on her – when he leaned over so she could get a good look at his eyes.

"Maybe I wasn't talking about Bobby," Ray said in a low, careful voice, and then turned on his heel. Leaving her dumbfounded in the middle of the path.

By the sixth kiss, Darcy was definitely starting to lean toward giving the Institute a try. Not that she had discounted anything that Scott or Alex had said about learning to control her powers before, but the thought of crossing the country to live with faceless strangers had left her with a sense of dread. But the Institute wasn't faceless, cold and impersonal anymore.

It had Bobby's face now. And Amara's, and Jamie's, and Sam's. And all the others who seemed to so readily accept her. It had Mr. McCoy's face as he smiled widely at her when she'd displayed some of her powers by walking across the surface of the pool after the other students had joined them to swim.

Suddenly, Darcy hadn't felt quite so alone in the world anymore. For a little while, swimming and laughing with people her own age, she'd started to almost feel like her old self again. She'd felt…normal.

By the end of the day, when the sunset colored the interior of the van with coral and saffron as they drove back to Hana, and Darcy was squeezed in the back seat between Bobby and Sam, she'd made up her mind. She looked over at Bobby, who was leaning against the window with his eyes closed and his fingers twined with hers loosely, and took a deep breath.

"I've decided to go," she said quietly, in deference to the other tired and napping occupants of the van. Bobby didn't open his eyes, but he smiled a little, squeezing her hand gently.

"Good…" he mumbled.

***

Next Chapter: Bayville Bound!

AN: Ooooo…Boom-Boom and Berzerker! Don't ask me where that subplot it coming from, since it wasn't in my outline. Your guess is as good as mine, although I probably shouldn't admit that.

Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed, and Rurouni Tyriel as always for being my sounding board. 

Feedback greatly appreciated. Until next time! ^_^


	5. Another World

Disclaimer: XME, no. Darcy Harper, yes.

**Melt Me**

Chapter Five: Another World

***

_Oahu, Monday morning._

"You're absolutely sure about this?" Alex asked her for about the tenth time since she'd told him of her decision to go back east two days earlier.

The sun had barely poked above the horizon as Alex and Darcy sped along the highway out of town in Alex's old VW beetle, their surfboards strapped to the roof. Darcy huddled in the passenger seat, clutching her duffel bag to her chest and chewing her lip. She'd changed her mind at least two dozen times since she'd told Bobby she'd decided to attend the Institute.

"Do you have to keep asking me that?" Darcy demanded shrilly. "Besides, I thought you were all for me going." Nervousness – no, fear – was running full tilt through her veins now that the time for leaving was nearly upon her, making her short tempered.

Alex glanced away from the road to look at the tense girl beside him. Her hands gripping the large duffel bag in her lap that held her clothes – everything she owned – so tightly her knuckles were white. The poor girl looked terrified. He let go of the wheel and reached over, prying one of her hands away from the bag to give it a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm all for you going, if that's what _you_ want to do, _Wahine._" 

"I don't know, though!" Darcy cried miserably. "I keep thinking that I do, but then I chicken out. I mean, what if nobody likes me? What if I hate it there? What if—"

"What if you do like it, though?" Alex interrupted. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained, y'know."

Alex turned onto the dirt track that would take them up into the highlands where Scott and the others were waiting with the plane. Beside him, Darcy started visibly shaking.

"Alex, I'm scared," she whimpered softly. They were late already for meeting Scott, mostly because Alex's mother had insisted that the four of them eat breakfast together one last time like a family. Still, Alex pulled the car over to the side of the narrow dirt road and killed the engine.

"C'mere," he said, and pulled Darcy's upper body across the center console to hug her awkwardly, the emergency brake digging into her hip. But she didn't care as she pressed her face against Alex's loud Hawaiian print shirt and bawled. Crying like she hadn't done since she'd left her real family, she couldn't believe she was going to leave behind another. 

"Don't be scared. It's really going to be okay. Scott's going to be there, and he promised me that he'd look out for you just like I would. He said you could borrow his laptop anytime to call home…" Alex told her reassuringly.

Darcy nodded half-heartedly, her tears spent. "I guess I'm being silly, worrying about nothing," Darcy mumbled. But she didn't let go of her death grip on Alex.

"No, you're not silly. You've been through a lot in the last year, sometimes I forget that, but I'm going to make you a promise…" Alex said seriously. She looked up questioningly.

"What?"

"If you are really unhappy there. I mean, if you really can't stand it another minute…then you call me, and I'll come and get you and bring you home. Don't feel like you have to stay there…that you don't have somewhere else to go. Mom and Dad will take you back in a heartbeat, Darce." Alex told her. Darcy sniffled loudly, emotion clogging her throat.

"Really?" she squeaked out, sitting up and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Of course! They love you," Alex informed her. Darcy looked up at him, the question unspoken in her pale, pale eyes. Alex grinned. "_Aloha au ia'oe, ko'u kaikuahine. 'Oe makana mai kai." _Darcy tilted her head to the side.

"My Hawaiian isn't as good as yours, _lolo_, I didn't catch all that. What did you say?" she asked. Before answering, Alex reached up and took off the puka shell necklace he wore – a gift from his adoptive mother – and leaned over. Fastening it around Darcy's slender neck.

"I said that I love you too, Sis. And that you were a gift from the sea," Alex teased her. Chucking her under the chin softly.

Darcy touched the necklace reverently, she'd never seen Alex without it, not once since she'd met him, and she understood what it meant that he was giving it to her as she tried to keep from crying again.

"You're the best friend I've ever had, Alex…_ko'u kaikunane, mau loa._" _My brother_, _forever_, she said softly in her badly accented Hawaiian. 

Alex nodded and looked straight ahead, blinking rapidly as he started the engine. "We're late," he said gruffly.

To her credit, Darcy didn't cry again when Alex dropped her off at the plane. And she managed to hide most of her fear of the unknown as she carried her bag on board the big black jet. Scott followed behind her, carrying the surfboard Alex had given her and insisted that she take. In her hand was a wad of bills that Alex had pressed into her palm at the last minute after she'd hugged him goodbye.

"Dad insisted," he explained, when she tried giving the money back. The Master's were good people; she'd been blessed the day they had taken her in. It was for the best that she moved on now, perhaps. So she'd no longer be a burden to them.

She looked around nervously as she hesitated in the center aisle of the jet, looking for an empty seat. The other students were already strapped in and awaiting their departure, and Darcy saw that the only free seats left were in the very back, where she'd be sitting by herself. 

She slid into a seat quietly while Scott stowed her things and peeked out the window to see Alex standing by his car. She raised her hand in a wave and saw him return the gesture with a reassuring grin, making her feel a little better.

"Okay, Iceman…fire her up. Let's get home," Scott said, walking up the center aisle from the back to take the copilot's seat. Darcy craned her neck to see over the high-backed seats in front of her and caught a glimpse of the back of Bobby's head in the pilot's seat. She crushed her disappointment that she wouldn't get to spend the flight back talking to him, being around him seemed to make this whole idea somehow less overwhelming.

She heard the bump and screech of the intercom microphone click on and then Bobby's smooth voice came over the speakers. "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. I hope you all had a great stay in the Aloha State and that everyone had the chance to get lei'd—"

"Give me that!" Scott snapped. Darcy put her hand over her mouth and giggled as Scott snatched the microphone away from Bobby. 

In the pilot's seat, Bobby smiled. Hearing Darcy's laugh over the groans of his friends at his corny joke. He leaned over and looked back down the aisle to see if he could see her, and was rewarded to see her smiling face as she stuck her head into the aisle to peek at him, too. He winked at her and turned back to the controls. Life was good.

"Everybody hang on, we'll be home in time for lunch!" Bobby called out cheerfully.

***

_Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, 2:30 pm._

Darcy's first introduction to the Xavier Institute wasn't a conventional one. Most new students enter through the front gate, where they have the chance to appreciate the well-tended grounds of the estate. They enter the mansion through the large and impressive glass doors that open into a gracious and expansive foyer. They are treated to seeing the numerous and costly amenities of the living quarters before anything else.

Darcy's initiation to the Institute started at the lower levels. Something most new recruits don't see for several days at least. She stared with open-mouthed wonder at the sophisticated equipment she passed as she followed Scott and the other students out of the cavernous hanger the jet was housed in and past the many training rooms.

Her fingers clutched the handles of her duffel tightly and she felt every inch the unsophisticated country girl she was. Her jaw dropped even wider when they entered the foyer of the mansion's lower level and she could fully appreciate the scale of the facility. Her father's church _and_ their house in Iowa could both easily fit inside any one of the massive metal lined rooms they passed.

"Huge, isn't it?" Bobby whispered in her ear. She nodded without looking at him. Her eyes too busy drinking in her surroundings. She jumped slightly when she felt Scott put his hand on her shoulder.

"Let's get you settled in, and then I'll take you for your interview with the Professor." Scott told her with a small smile.

"O-okay," Darcy said meekly, not really liking the sound of that 'interview' part. She put her bag over her shoulder while she waited for someone to lead the way. Before Scott could though, Bobby took Darcy's hand.

"I'll show her around," he said immediately. Tugging Darcy after him as he headed for the elevator, ignoring Scott's sputtering.

"You're always dragging me around after you like baggage," Darcy laughed nervously once they were on the elevator. Bobby dropped his duffel bag on the ground and grinned at her.

"I think its cause I'm always wanting to keep you to myself," Bobby told her. Darcy blushed a bit; she hadn't seen Bobby alone since they'd kissed at the hidden pool in Maui. The others had always been around, and then she hadn't seen him at all the following day, allowing her insecurities and imagination about the Institute to run wild.

Hesitantly, she stepped closer to Bobby; unconsciously craving the feeling of security he gave her. He put his arm around her slim shoulders, and it seemed completely natural to turn in towards him, resting her head on his shoulder as he hugged her. It had been a long time since anyone had held her, apart from Alex's brief brotherly hugs. It felt nice. 

"You're warm," Bobby murmured in her ear, holding her tighter when her arms stole around his middle. "Feels good."

Darcy smiled and said nothing, just enjoying the hug. All too soon the elevator reached the dormitory floor and opened. Reluctantly, Darcy let go of Bobby and followed him down the hall for lack of any other direction.

"Let's dump your stuff in my room until we figure out which one's gonna be yours and then I'll show you around," Bobby said over his shoulder. They passed a few other students in the hallway, Sam, talking to a young blonde haired girl that looked so much like him it didn't take a genius to figure out it was his sister. Then Ray, who stomped into his room farther down the hall ahead of them and slammed his door almost in Tabby's face.

"Rude!" Tabitha yelled at the closed door before continuing on to hers around the corner and slamming it with almost as much force.

"What's that about?" Darcy whispered to Bobby as she caught up to him. Bobby shrugged.

"Don't know, don't care…" 

When it seemed they had walked forever – the Institute had more doors off its halls than a hotel – Bobby stopped and opened one.

"How do you remember which one is yours?" Darcy laughed. Bobby held the door for her and motioned for her to precede him into his room. 

"Easy, third from the end of the hall," he told her. 

Darcy stood in the center of the room and looked around, setting her duffel on the floor. It was neat, the Professor would accept no less she assumed, with a bed, a dresser, and a small desk. Bobby was unpacking, mostly taking his clothes out of his bag and stuffing them into the laundry hamper in his closet.

"Your room is nice," Darcy said to break the silence. 

"Thanks. I used to have to share with Sam." Bobby told her. 

Darcy wandered the small room, looking at the photo of the smiling family on his dresser. A mother, a father, and two boys – the elder of the two obviously being Bobby. Even though he looked much younger in the photo, she recognized that cocky grin. Her eyes fell to his bed and she felt her heart clench a bit.

Spread out over the surface was a star patterned quilt made up completely of different shades of pale blue fabric. She reached her hand out to touch it, completely unaware that Bobby had finished his unpacking and was watching her closely.

"My mom made it. She didn't want me to be homesick when I first got here, so she made me bring it along," Bobby explained with a chuckle. "She picked that pattern and those colors because she said it looked like ice."

"It does," Darcy said quietly. "I have – _had _– one at home just like it that my grandmother gave me. Only mine was darker shades of blue."

Hearing the sadness in her voice, Bobby pushed the bedroom door that he was standing beside closed to give them some privacy, only to meet the unmovable object of Scott's arm as he passed in the hall.

"Keep that door open, Drake," Scott warned him before continuing on to his room. Bobby made a face, and pushed the door mostly shut. Leaving it cracked open before he went over to Darcy.

She didn't seem to have heard Scott, so lost was she in her own thoughts as she stared down at his quilt. Bobby leaned over to see her face, and her eyes were a million miles away.

"Hey," he said softly, and smiled when she blinked slowly and focused on him. 

"Sorry," she said blushing. "You were going to show me around." 

"In a minute," Bobby said, and put his arms around her again. Giving her another much needed hug.

"You're being so nice to me," Darcy said. Trying to keep the tone of wonder from her voice. Bobby squeezed her gently as he hugged her tighter.

"Because I like you," Bobby told her. She looked up at him and gave him a small, somewhat tremulous smile.

"I like you too, Bobby," she replied softly.

Their gazes locked, and Bobby was lost in that pale ice blue color of her eyes, seeming even more brilliant in contrast with her tan skin. It made Bobby wonder if all of her was as evenly golden brown, and he blushed a little bit for imagining it. She tipped her chin up a fraction, but enough that Bobby recognized the subtle invitation for him to kiss her. He obliged, bringing his face to hers slowly and brushing his lips over hers in a feather light caress.

A knock on Bobby's door sent them flying apart as if they were similarly charged magnets. 

"Time's up, Drake. The Professor wants to see Darcy in his office for her interview now," Scott called from the other side of the cracked door.

Bobby caught her fingers as she turned to go, delaying her. "I'll catch up with you later and show you around Bayville if you want," Bobby said.

"I'd like that," Darcy smiled back at him.

Around the corner, Jubilee pressed herself against the wall when she heard Scott knock on Bobby's door. She didn't want to seem as eager to see Bobby as she was. It had been a long summer, one she had spent most of at home nursing her broken heart after Bobby had broken up with her. But now that she was back, and he was back from his trip to Hawaii, Jubilee hoped that they could talk and maybe work things out. She just wasn't ready to accept that they could be over, not before they'd ever really given their relationship a chance.

She peeked around the corner to see if Scott was still there, and her mouth fell open to see a girl come out of Bobby's room with him. Jubilee narrowed her almond shaped eyes as she studied the other girl, reluctantly tearing her gaze away from Bobby. The new girl was slender and petite, with long dark brown hair that fell in a straight fall midway down her back. She wore a sage green sleeveless top, knee length black skirt and calf high black leather boots.

Jubilee hated her on sight.

Mostly because of the way Bobby was so familiarly holding her hand as they followed Scott down the hall toward the main staircase and away from Jubilee's hiding spot. Jealousy twisted her gut as she watched Bobby squeeze the girl's hand, reluctant to let go as they parted at the junction between the girls and boys wings of the mansion. Bobby continuing on toward the girls' rooms with the duffel bag he had slung over one muscled shoulder. _Her_ bag no doubt. 

Jubilee shut her eyes tightly, willing the hurt and anger away. She shouldn't be surprised that Bobby would find someone else. He was handsome, charming, funny and a total flirt.

"But he's _my_ flirt," she whispered miserably. She looked around the corner again, hoping that no one had overheard her; luckily the hallway was clear. Jubilee eased around the corner and strode purposefully down the hall and back to the girl's wing where – it just so happened – Bobby had gone.

Jubilee flipped her long black hair back off her shoulders, a determined look on her face. She may have some competition for Bobby's affection now, but Jubilation Lee never gave up without a fight.

"Come in, Darcy."

Darcy's knuckles came to a stop a fraction of an inch from the heavy half opened door she was about to knock on. Surprised, she peeked around the doorjamb into Professor Xavier's office. How he'd known she was there was a mystery to her, considering her quiet approach from where Scott had left her, and the fact that the occupant of the room was facing the window.

As she peered into the room owlishly, Professor Charles Xavier turned his wheelchair around and rolled it toward her, a gentle and welcoming smile on his face.

"Please, do come in. There is nothing for you to fear here." 

_Of course not_, Darcy thought to herself as she forced her feet to take her into the room to greet her benefactor. He wasn't what she had expected, even as she realized she hadn't been sure _what_ to expect. Scott and the others had painted a rosy portrait of the man who had founded the Institute.

Professor Xavier gestured for her to sit after they had shaken hands, and Darcy slipped into the large comfortable chair nervously. She'd never been on a job interview before, and she could only imagine this had to be something like it, only with higher stakes.

"I trust you had a good trip back?" Xavier asked. Darcy nodded readily.

"Oh yes. That's some plane you have," she said admiringly. Professor Xavier smiled, seeing the X-jet through Darcy's eyes almost as her thoughts broadcast themselves loudly. He would never actively read her mind without her permission of course, but he could catch glimpses of her most transient thoughts and emotions just by remaining open and empathetic to the girl. 

"I'm delighted that you have finally decided to accept my invitation to come to the Institute. I'd hoped it would have been sooner, but Alex didn't think that you were ready to join us until now." Professor Xavier said, once their pleasantries were over.

"He looks after me, he's a good friend," Darcy said loyally. "But I'm still not sure that I'm ready for…all this." Darcy finished with a vague wave of her hand. Then biting her lower lip, forged on before she lost her nerve. "Professor Xavier, sir, before we continue, I just wanted to say that while I appreciate what you are offering me here, I really do. I just want to make sure that it is understood that I…do not have the support of my family any longer." 

Darcy dug into her pocket of her skirt; fishing out the roll of bills that Alex had given her before she left. Yet another generous gift from his family, and she held it out to the Professor. "This, and the clothes I brought, are everything I have in the world, and every bit of it was given to me by Alex's family. I-I just want you to understand that."

Professor Xavier rolled closer to the girl and took her hand in his, closing her fist around the roll of money she was offering. "This isn't about what you have, or what you can offer," he said gently. "I created this school as a safe haven for mutants. A place where they could learn to develop their powers."

"Now that the world knows about us, it's more important than ever that we maintain a positive image to promote good relations between normal humans and mutants. Not all mutants believe as we do, Darcy, that humans and mutants will one day live together peacefully. That is why we train, and why I formed the X-Men." 

"X-Men?" Darcy asked. 

"Yes, the X-Men. My students. We teach those here to control their powers, to allow them normal lives. But we also teach them control so they can use them for a better good... namely... saving normal humans and fighting against those who threaten them. Learning that control isn't always easy, and we've found that some mutants can be, er…particularly destructive, even by accident. Thus the construction of what the students affectionately refer to as the Danger Room." Professor Xavier chuckled, and templing his fingers under his chin, he gauged the girl's reaction. It was always interesting to him how potential students reacted differently to learning what the X-men were.

Darcy blinked at him, a memory bubbling to the surface of her mind. Of Alex mentioning that he had been asked to come and join the X-men. And then of Amara beside the fire, telling her that Bobby was an X-man too. Her stomach fell.

"But…" Darcy began, her eyes wide. "I thought I was here to learn to control my powers, that you were going to help me," Darcy said plaintively.

"And I will," Xavier said soothingly. "By training you to master your potential, you control your powers before they control you."

"But…" Darcy said again, her eyes turning navy with sorrow. "I don't want to master them. I don't want to use them at all! I want them to go away…I thought you could…cure me," she finished in a near whisper.

Professor Xavier rolled closer to her again, resting his hand on her shoulder when she dropped her face into her hands. "Darcy," he began patiently, sensing the torrent of emotions running through her slender frame. "Mutation isn't a disease. It isn't something that can be cured; it's the way that we are born. Some of us are no different outwardly than anyone else, and others – like Hank and Kurt – can't hide their mutations from the world. But we're all the same inside in that we possess an advanced X-gene. Making us different from normal humans at the genetic level."

Darcy sniffed loudly. This wasn't what she wanted to hear, not even a little bit. "It isn't fair," she whispered miserably.

"But it is something that we have to live with. What I am offering you is the chance to learn to live with it, to accept your difference as being part of what makes you, you. Just because you are a mutant, doesn't mean that's all that you are, or all that you can be. Give us the chance to show you the good in all of this," the Professor said.

"What good is there when people hate you? Just for being who you are?" Darcy asked.

"I won't lie to you, Darcy. We have troubled days ahead. As I said, not all mutants think as we do, some feel that a war is coming. With the growing anti-mutant sentiment, and the new mutant registration initiative, it's becoming a hostile and dangerous world out there for us. Much different than the days when we kept our powers hidden. I wouldn't want to see you out in that world unprepared and unable to handle yourself."

Darcy raised her head slowly, the weight of the world in her eyes and on her shoulders. Especially at the mention of the mutant registration initiative, something the Reverend was a vocal supporter of. "So what you are saying, is that just because I'm a mutant I have some kind of bizarre responsibility to use my powers to protect the people that hate me?" Darcy asked incredulously.

Professor Xavier tried blocking the fast and furious images that played over his mind's eye, projected by the girl who didn't know any better that she was dealing with a telepath. Water, Bobby, Alex, a sailboat in a storm, a man's face twisted with fear and loathing all danced across the surface of the girl's mind. Xavier plucked the one thought that would influence her most like a ripe fruit from a tree.

"Power carries with it responsibility. Even those mutants that choose to remain unbiased about the mutant debate still have a responsibility to it. A few years back, we battled an ancient mutant who held the future of every being on this planet – mutant or otherwise – in the palm of his hand. If he had succeeded, life as we knew it on this world would have ceased to exist in favor of this new order; and it was us – mutants – that stopped him. And not just the X-men. Those who didn't take sides were there, too."

Darcy looked at him questioningly, and he smiled. His fatherly expression oddly comforting to her.

"Yes. Your friend, Alex Masters was there. Because even though he has never chosen to come here and train formally, he knows that his powers carry with them an obligation, if nothing else than to his own kind. Do you understand?"

Darcy nodded slowly, finding herself swayed by the Professor's conviction and beliefs. Perhaps this _was_ the place for her, even if she wasn't sure about this whole X-men idea. It couldn't hurt to give it a try, after all, Alex had promised to take her home if she didn't like it here. What did she have to lose?

"What do I have to do?" she answered quietly.

After placing Darcy's bag in her new room - thankful that if she were staying at least for the term she'd be Amara's roommate and not Jubilee or Tabby's - Bobby had tempted fate. Taking the quilt his mother had made for him off his bed and spreading it out over Darcy's new one in a gesture of friendship. Hoping to persuade the cosmos to let Darcy stay. He liked her a surprisingly lot, considering he barely knew her, and the idea of watching her leave without ever knowing what might have been between them was just…unacceptable.

"That's really sweet of you," Amara told him, watching as he spread the quilt out over the other bed in her room. Bobby straightened and fisted his hands on his hips and gave her a cocky grin, keeping his real feelings inside as always.

"Well, I am a really sweet guy, after all," he replied smugly. Amara rolled her eyes knowingly.

"Sell it down the hall, Bobby…nobody in here is buying it," Amara laughed. Bobby didn't reply, there was no need, Amara's built in Bobby-bullshit detector was foolproof. It was one reason why they were better as friends.

"I just wanted her to feel welcome," Bobby told her with a little shrug. Amara stepped up beside him and squeezed his arm lightly. 

"Your secret is safe with me, you know that," she told him. They headed out of her room together to go downstairs to the Community room and Amara leaned her head toward Bobby to speak confidentially. "But I think you should be warned…Jubilee's back."

Amara had no more than said the words when Jubilee appeared in the hall ahead of them, leaving her room to head downstairs as well. She kept her back to them, but Bobby didn't doubt for one moment that his ex-girlfriend knew they were there.

"Speak of the devil," Amara murmured. Bobby elbowed Amara lightly to shut her up before the two of them overtook Jubilee.

"Hey Amara, Hi Bobby," Jubilee smiled as she fell into step with them.

"Hey Jubes, how was your summer?" Bobby said neutrally. He didn't want to lose Jubilee as a friend, but he was still cautious around her, they hadn't parted on the best of terms when they'd broken up.

Jubilee gave Bobby her best smile. "Pretty good, it was nice to see my folks and stuff," Jubilee told him and rested her hand on his arm. "Say, Bobby, do you think we could talk…privately?" she asked quietly. Bobby glanced over at Amara out of the corner of his eye when he heard her give a choked little snort, the most bizarre expression on her beautiful face, like she was trying to hold back a sneeze. But Bobby knew better and he gave her a look, telling her she'd better not abandon him now.

Not surprising to him one bit was Tabitha's timely appearance at the top of the rotunda. "Amara! There you are! I've been looking all over for you, you _have_ to come and see this thing." Tabby said gaily, looping her arm around Amara's waist and leading her off.

"What thing?" Bobby could hear Amara ask warily before the two disappeared. Bobby cursed mentally. The girls of the Institute were in league against him, had to be. There just couldn't be any other explanation for how he constantly got manipulated by them. 

"So talk," Bobby said resigned, continuing on downstairs to the Community room. He wanted to be there for Darcy when she came out of her meeting with the Professor, the first person to congratulate her and welcome her to the team. Jubilee trailed along beside him like a shadow.

The Community room was practically deserted. Dorian Leech sat in front of the large television set playing a video game and didn't even give Bobby and Jubilee a second glance when they entered. Rahne Sinclair was curled up in the window seat and she smiled at them in welcome before burying her nose back in her book.

Bobby flopped down on one of the many couches scattered around the room on the opposite side from Leech and Rahne. Jubilee sat at the other end, carefully maintaining her distance from him.

"I really missed you this summer, Bobby," Jubilee told him, getting right to the point. "I had a lot of time to think while I was back home…about us…"

Bobby shifted uncomfortably. He really didn't want to get into it with Jubilee about their relationship again. Especially now that Darcy was rapidly becoming a factor in his life.

"I just wanted to say that I was sorry about the way that I acted. I was totally stupid and wrong and I don't blame you for freaking out at all. I'd hoped that maybe we could work things out…" Jubilee said.

"I dunno, Jubes…I've kinda met someone…" Bobby interrupted hesitantly. 

"So we could stay friends," Jubilee finished, like he hadn't spoken. Bobby blinked at her, surprised, and Jubilee smiled inwardly. He was playing right into her hands. But then he was just a guy after all.

"Well, sure," Bobby replied relieved. "Of course we'll stay friends. I never wanted not to be." 

"Great," Jubilee gritted out with forced brightness.

_**Students, please assemble in the Community Room.** _

"Yes!" Bobby exclaimed excitedly upon hearing the Professor's mental summons, knowing what it meant. 

Jubilee hung back when Bobby got up and joined the other students as they filed into the room, trying to quell the bitterness inside at how readily Bobby had jumped at her offer of them just being friends. Didn't he care at all about what had happened between them? 

She watched as the new girl followed the Professor into the room, hating how pretty the new girl was, hating the way that Bobby was so quick to give her one of his easy sexy smiles. Smiles that Jubilee still wanted for herself.

_I'm not giving up on you, Bobby Drake…not by a long shot._ Jubilee thought darkly.

Like she'd been by the bonfire, Darcy was overwhelmed by the warm and enthusiastic response that awaited her when the Professor told the assembled students of her enrollment. Bobby and Amara were right there in the front, congratulating her and welcoming her, and it was all Darcy could do to not get choked up again.

"This is so great! We're going to be roommates!" Amara beamed, taking Darcy's hand and squeezing it.

Bobby stuck to her side like glue, introducing her to so many people; Jean, Kitty, Kurt, Rogue, Jubilee, Paige… Darcy was certain she'd never remember them all. And then, as if that wasn't bad enough…everyone had a codename too, she soon discovered.

"Did the Professor give you your codename yet?" Jamie asked eagerly, squeezing Bobby over on the couch to sit next to Darcy.

"Yes," Darcy replied, blushing a little.

"Don't tell us!" Kurt said. "Let's see if ve can guess." Darcy smiled at the dark haired young man as he rubbed his hands together. "You control the vater?" he asked in his softly accented voice. Darcy nodded. "Hmmm…Vave?" he guessed. Darcy shook her head.

"Wave? Lame guess, Kurt." The attractive brunette named Kitty said. "It's probably something cool like Tsunami, " Kitty said confidently.

"Zat's de same thing!" Kurt cried indignantly.

"Riptide?" Ray speculated. Darcy shook her head.

"Flood?" Jamie guessed, and promptly got thumped on the head by Bobby. "Heyyyy!" Jamie complained, rubbing his skull and twisting around to look at the older boy. Bobby jerked a thumb at him, suggesting silently that Jamie vacate the space between Bobby and Darcy if he knew what was good for him.

"Undertow? Tempest? Current?" The guesses flew around the room quickly.

"Drip?" 

Darcy turned her head to see who had made the insulting suggestion, but with so many people talking at once she couldn't tell. She thought it might have come from Tabby, who was laughing loudly as she stood with a exotic raven haired girl in a yellow jacket - Jubilee, if she remembered correctly - but she couldn't be sure.

"So tell us," Bobby said grinning and nudged Darcy gently with his elbow.

Before she could respond, Professor Xavier – who had been watching the banter with benevolent amusement – rolled forward with a pleased smile and held his hand out to Darcy. She let him pull her up to stand beside his chair as she smiled nervously.

"My X-men…I give you…Torrent."

***

Next Chapter: Training begins!

AN: Thanks go out to Rurouni Tyriel for "channeling" Professor X when I was horribly stuck with writing his dialogue. You saved me. ^_^

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed (in no particular order): Brandon B, Ashley, Hippiechic, Arsenal, lordanhur, Mercurial1, Namek Kaia, chocolateblood, and Raining Star. I appreciate your words of encouragement.

Until next time! Keep that feedback coming. ^_^


	6. Training Days

AN: Pardon the author's note at the beginning, but due to requests – a quick roll call of the younger students mentioned at the Institute:

Bobby Drake (Iceman), Amara Aquilla (Magma), Sam Guthrie (Cannonball), Ray Crisp (Berzerker), Jamie Madrox (Multiple), Roberto da Costa (Sunspot), Rahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane), Jubilation Lee (Jubilee), Tabitha Smith (Boom-Boom), Dorian Leech (Leech), and one I borrowed from the comics to "Evolutionize" – Paige Guthrie (Husk), Sam's little sister and skin shedding metamorph. Those curious about what the characters mutant abilities are, check out the Beyond Evolution site, I'm not going to take up the space with it here.

Disclaimer: XME, no. Darcy Harper, yes.

**Melt Me**

Chapter Six: Training Days

***

_Xavier Institute, Tuesday morning._

"They're kidding, right?" Darcy gulped, holding up the skintight spandex uniform she'd found in her closet along with the other 'X' emblazoned clothing – jackets, t-shirts, and the like – she'd been issued.

Across the room, Amara grinned as she pulled on her soft yellow boots, amused with Darcy's reaction. "Afraid not," she told her new roommate and tapped her wrist. "And you'd best get it on too, you _don't_ want to be late for your very first briefing. Logan has a very long memory." 

"Logan?" Darcy questioned, as she hurriedly wriggled into the tight uniform. 

"He wasn't around yesterday when you got introduced. He's one of our instructors and part of the core X-men team. Trust me, you will _not_ enjoy his training sessions," Amara told her, resting her gloved hands on her hips as she waited for Darcy to get zipped into her uniform. Darcy tugged her boots and gloves on, privately amazed that they fit.

"I'm not sure I want to know," she mumbled. Following Amara out of their room and down to the elevators. Amara laughed.

"You don't," she assured her. "Good Morning, Jamie," Amara said sweetly when they got to the elevator, Multiple holding the doors for them.

"Wait!" Bobby called, running down the hall toward them. Jamie acted like he was lunging for the elevator controls, trying to fake Bobby out and Amara laughed. Darcy just felt her stomach flip flop at seeing Bobby's muscular form in his uniform. Maybe spandex wasn't so bad…Bobby certainly did nice things for it.

Bobby squeezed through the closing doors and glared at Jamie briefly, before turning to greet Darcy. He gave a low whistle of appreciation at Darcy's appearance, making her blush. "Looking good," he teased quietly.

"I have never worn anything this tight in my life," Darcy whispered to him. Fidgeting with the heavyish belt that girdled her hips. Bobby gave her a grin that bordered on a leer as he leaned toward her, making her giggle.

"Behave," Amara said without turning around. "It's not like you've never seen a girl in spandex before." Bobby debated a smart assed response, but knew Amara would just make him sorry for it. Instead, he casually leaned against the elevator wall as he smiled at Darcy, all the while surreptitiously icing up his hand and chilling the metal wall.

"Sorry we didn't get the chance to go out last night," Bobby told Darcy, distracting her. "Want to try again tonight?"

"Sure, if I can. They've got me doing an awful lot of stuff before school starts. I'm on two sessions per day with an individual instructor, plus a group one every day until school starts," Darcy recited, ticking off each item on her fingers.

"Ouch! Two weeks of that?" Amara sympathized. Bobby nodded knowingly.

"Trying to get you up to speed most likely."

Darcy shuddered, a chill working it's way up her spine, and she felt like she should nearly be able to see her breath. The air conditioning was working overtime in the elevator, and her uniform was not as warm as it looked. She rubbed her arms in an attempt to warm herself, before folding her arms over her chest, embarrassed that the chill had made her nipples tighten and become very visible through her uniform.

Bobby met Jamie's eyes over Amara's head and he winked at the fifteen-year-old before the boy's eyes went back to staring at Amara's chest and her equally prominent nipples.

"Want me to warm you up, Amara?" Jamie asked innocently enough, but when Amara turned her suspicious brown eyes on him, he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from her bosom. Amara glanced down to see what he was so fascinated with and then scowled.

"You little pervert!" she yelled, and without thinking shoved Jamie hard. Which of course made him multiply when he connected with the wall until the elevator was like a sardine can. Darcy found herself shoved into a full body press with Bobby, as five Jamie's squirmed and pushed against her, trying to escape Amara's wrath, as the Nova Roman Princess was crammed into the opposite corner by the duplicates.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Jamie the original yelled, as the more Amara kicked and shoved, the more multiples Jamie created. Bobby grinned, his eyes locked with Darcy's as his water mutant tried to keep from laughing. At least she had a sense of humor about these things; he liked her more every minute.

"Take your time, Multiple," Bobby told him good naturedly, sliding his arm around Darcy's waist and pulling her even closer if that was possible. Luckily, they arrived at the lower level and the door opened, Jamie's spilling out like a flood into the foyer, followed by one fired up Princess.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Jamie still yelled, as he and his multiples fled down the corridor away from Magma as she gave chase, berating him loudly for copping a feel. "It was an accident!" Jamie wailed, skidding around the corner and out of sight. 

"It's never dull around here," Bobby chuckled and let Darcy go so they could exit the chilly elevator. She looked up at him coyly and crooked a finger, so he leaned down with a grin tugging at his lips. Darcy tipped her face up and kissed him softly on the cheek, near the corner of his mouth.

"What was that for?" 

"That was for loaning me your quilt that reminded me of home," Darcy told him. Then her expression narrowed and she jabbed him in the ribs, none too gently either.

"Ow! And that?" Bobby asked, rubbing the offending spot.

"_That_ was for freezing the elevator," she explained, heading down the corridor Jamie and Amara had taken. Bobby grinned and followed; oh yeah…he definitely liked her.

Logan had picked up the scent of a new student long before she made an appearance in the Danger Room for the morning briefing about the training schedule for the week.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he tried to gauge her from across the room. She was a tiny little thing, no bigger than Amara, and his nostrils widened imperceptibly, he could smell her fear across the room.

Logan was a man that didn't like surprises, never had. And a new student out of the blue counted as one. He'd just spent the last week and a half out in the mountains with a handful of the younger students trying to teach them some common sense and survival skills. Unfortunately, those were two traits sorrowfully lacking in this year's crop. The only one who showed any promise was Sam Guthrie's little sister Paige, a metamorph known as Husk.

He wandered over to where Scott Summers and Jean Grey were quietly talking, their heads bent toward each other. Probably discussing one of their lesson plans, since neither of them were suited up this morning. They were most likely going to be holding one of their little physics lessons, rather than teaching the kids how to fight. It was a good thing he wasn't in charge, that's all he had to say.

"Who's the new kid, Cyke?" Logan grunted in lieu of greeting as he joined Scott and Jean.

Jean gave him an indulgent smile. "Good morning to you, too, Logan."

Wolverine ignored Jean's chiding tone and folded his arms across his chest.

"Darcy Harper. She came in with us yesterday, and the Professor talked her into enrolling. Her codename is Torrent." Scott told him without looking up from his lecture notes.

"What can she do?" Logan asked, watching the new girl carefully as she stood between Iceman and Cannonball, waiting for things to get underway. Logan couldn't say he approved of her choice of associates so far. Bobby Drake and Sam Guthrie were - in Logan's opinion – more prone to showboating than serious training.

"Water manipulation," Scott replied. Logan arched an eyebrow.

"Water manipulation?" he repeated dubiously. Scott looked up from his notes at the tone in Logan's voice.

"She can move large masses of water around and manipulate the surface tension. That's about all she's able to do at this time, although the potential her abilities afford are mind boggling if you think about them," Scott told him.

"That's all she can do?" Logan repeated sarcastically. "Isn't that enough? Those are some dangerous powers, there, Cyke. You have any idea what kind of damage that little girl could do?"

"We're well aware, Logan," Jean interrupted smoothly. A bit peeved at being excluded from the discussion. Logan snorted in response.

"Yeah, well…what are we plannin' on doin' about it?"

Across the room, Darcy could feel the eyes of the dangerous looking dark haired man crawling over her. Judging her. Knowing instinctively they must belong to the mysterious and much dreaded instructor, Logan. Darcy felt her stomach clench, mostly because Mr. Logan reminded her of the Reverend, her father. It wasn't so much their looks – both were rugged and powerful looking men – it was the way they carried themselves. It was something in their eyes that burned their way into her skull when they looked at her, like they could divine every single thought in her head. How many times had the Reverend told her he knew everything she was going to say before she said it? Stripping her independence and individuality away. She shuddered and cut her eyes away from Logan's side of the room. Looking at him dredged up things she had no desire to remember.

"This room is always cold, but it'll get better once we start our exercises," Cannonball said quietly in his soft drawl. Darcy smiled at the tall blonde boy next to her, touched that he seemed to notice her discomfort. On her other side, Bobby was lodged in a fairly intense discussion with Roberto about snowboarding.

"I'm fine, thanks," Darcy told him. "Got a chill, goose must have walked over my grave," she laughed. But she still wrapped her arms around herself protectively. Feeling very, very small.

With a puff of pungent smoke and a quick flash to announce his arrival, Nightcrawler appeared a few feet in front of Darcy as he teleported into the Danger Room.

"Am I late?" Kurt asked worriedly. A small screech of surprise made Kurt turn around and he saw that Darcy was backing away from him slowly. "It's okay, it's just me," Kurt said, holding up his three fingered hands in a non-threatening manner. "See? Look…" he turned on his inducer and smiled at her gently.

Darcy felt like a fool. Especially with the way everyone was looking at her as if she'd gone crazy. Even Bobby was giving her a puzzled look at her reaction. They might be used to seeing a blue fuzzy demon appear out of thin air, but she wasn't. Her cheeks burning, she edged away when the bulk of judgmental eyes were off her.

She splashed cold water on her face when she found the washroom, hoping it would soothe her. She hated being embarrassed; it made her feel more isolated from people than she did normally.

"Are you okay?"

Darcy raised her head to see a slender raven-haired girl reflected in the mirror behind her. Her dark almond shaped eyes seemed to glitter as they met hers in the mirror, full of animosity. Darcy turned to face the girl and the look was gone as she smiled widely at Darcy.

"I'm Jubilee, we met yesterday, remember?" Jubilee smiled, coming forward and offering Darcy her hand.

"Hi," Darcy replied shyly, tucking her hair behind her ear and shaking the other girls hand. They were about the same height so they were eye to eye. 

"Wow, you have the prettiest eyes," Jubilee told her, leaning this way and that as she looked at Darcy's irises closely. "They are the exact same color as my Siberian Husky's at home."

Darcy blinked, the compliment sandwiched in an insult throwing her off guard. "Uh…thank you," she replied, although it sounded like more of a question.

"I just came to make sure you were okay. You looked like you'd seen a ghost when Kurt 'ported in," Jubilee said, looking in the mirror next to Darcy and fixing a smudge in her dark plum lipstick. Her dark eyes slanted over to Darcy again. "No one warned you about what he was gonna look like, did they?" she asked, her tone accusatory.

"No, not that I remember," Darcy said quietly, examining a seam in her yellow glove, rather than meet the other girl's dark calculating gaze. Jubilee put her hand on Darcy's arm.

"It's okay to freak out the first time. We just all thought you'd been warned. Don't worry about it. Nobody here holds grudges," Jubilee said, finishing with a silent, _much_, in her mind. She tugged Darcy's arm, urging the new girl to come with her back to the Danger Room to join the morning exercises.

"Mind if I ask you something personal?" Jubilee asked when they left the restroom. Darcy shook her head, not wanting to offend the other girl, and hoping she wouldn't have to outright lie. "Are you and Bobby dating?" she asked.

"I don't know. We haven't really been on a date…not yet any way. Why?" Darcy asked confused. Jubilee stopped her with a hand on her arm outside the Danger Room and bit her lip.

"I don't want to tell tales - especially since you don't know me that well, and I may be biased in the matter – but I used to date Bobby. And I wouldn't want you to get hurt like I did," Jubilee told her earnestly.

Darcy's spine stiffened imperceptively. First Boom-Boom and her hanging off of Bobby constantly, and now Darcy was finding herself - nearly first thing - in a confrontation with his ex. What other little surprises were waiting for her?

"I appreciate the concern, Jubilee. But I think I can handle my own relationships, thank you," Darcy said frostily. 

"I didn't mean to offend. It's just that I could tell even yesterday that you really, really like him. I'm just wanting to help keep you from making the same mistakes that I did so he won't dump you like he did me…or Amara…" Jubilee trailed off.

"_Amara?_" Darcy blurted, a touch too loudly. "You're saying he and Amara went out too?" Jubilee nodded her head.

"I'm sorry to be the one to break this to you, but Bobby has dated most of the girls here. He has quite a reputation for being a player. But I'm sure it'll be different with you!" Jubilee said quickly. "He seems really taken with you, so that's a good sign."

Darcy put a hand to her brow, her head throbbing as she was overwhelmed. She felt like the rug had been pulled out from under her feet and she was falling away from reality.

"Darcy," Jubilee said gently, putting her hand on Darcy's shoulder. "Bobby is a really great guy - he is - he just dates a lot of girls. He's a flirt and it gets him into trouble. There's no reason why you can't be the one for him – you just have to get him to stick around long enough to realize it."

In spite of herself, Darcy could not stop the words from leaving her mouth. "How do I do that?"

"Easy. Just don't give in to his pressure to have sex. Every girl he's dated, he gets them in bed and then he dumps them shortly after. It's rude and it's crude to say so, but it's true. He did it to me."

Darcy looked away from Jubilee's eyes, looking somewhere over her left shoulder. She didn't want to know that this beautiful exotic looking girl in front of her had been intimate with Bobby. It was unfair to expect that Bobby had never been with anyone, or had never dated anyone else before she came along. But it _was_ fair to assume to _not_ be thrown into the midst of a Bobby Drake ex-girlfriend convention. She felt her irritation rise, he should have warned her, and he should have told her about Amara…especially since she was expected to share a room with one of his ex's.

Jubilee watched with hidden glee and satisfaction at the play of emotions that crossed Darcy's lovely face. Turning her ice blue eyes stormy.

"Why are you helping me?" Darcy asked suddenly, her gaze narrowing. She wasn't born yesterday, and she wasn't gullible enough to take what one of Bobby's ex-girlfriend's said as gospel. For all Darcy knew, Jubilee could still be hung up on Bobby. Jubilee looked concerned and took Darcy's hand, squeezing it.

"I know what you're thinking – that I want Bobby back, but I'll be honest with you…I'm totally over him. We're just friends. I'm helping you because the first rule of the X-girls is that we stick together, no matter what. You're one of us now." Jubilee said and jerked her head at the door. "C'mon, we better get back in there before we get extra training assigned," Jubilee told her with a smile.

"Thanks," Darcy said sincerely, and preceded Jubilee into the Danger Room. Jubilee's concerned friend expression melted away once Darcy's back was to her and she smiled smugly, her eyes glittering again.

"My pleasure…"

Later that afternoon, by the time Darcy's first individual training session was scheduled, the seeds Jubilee had planted were starting to take root. For one thing she was irritated as hell with Bobby.

She folded her arms and stared at the still aqua surface of the pool while she waited for her instructor, going over and over every word that Jubilee had told her. Bobby should have warned her that the Institute was going to be full of his ex-girlfriends; he shouldn't have left it to be a shocking surprise. She felt at a disadvantage now, and she didn't like it.__

"Sorry I'm late. Are you ready to get started?"

Darcy spun around when she heard the familiar voice behind her and she scowled. "What are _you_ doing here?" she demanded.

Bobby blinked at her, surprised at the hostility in her tone and he glanced behind him to make sure she wasn't talking to someone else, but they were the only two around. "I'm your instructor," he explained. Now it was Darcy's turn to look surprised.

"You?" she questioned, fisting her hands on her slender hips. Bobby clenched his teeth a little at her skeptical tone. Being taken seriously was a very big deal to him, but he shook off the offense mentally. She'd never seen him in action, so he could afford to cut her some slack. Besides, it was hard to be overly annoyed with her when she looked that cute in her uniform. 

"Me," he replied lightly. "So let's get started shall we? The goal of this part of your training is for you to learn to control the outcome of your powers, to do that—"

"Why you?" she interrupted.

"Excuse me?" he questioned frostily, raising an eyebrow. Darcy ignored the warning in his voice as she squared off in front of him. Those pale eyes of hers boring into him.

"You heard me. Why did they send you, Bobby?" she asked.

"That's Iceman. When I'm in this uniform and you're in that one we're Iceman and Torrent, understand? We don't pass out these codenames because they sound cool. They have a function, so use them," Bobby snapped, his temper strained. 

"Cyclops asked me to be your instructor because our powers are complimentary and he thought you could learn something from me." To make his point he iced up and folded his arms over his chest. "Think you can handle that?"

The Iceman was feeling pretty pleased with himself when Torrent lowered her eyes from his challenging ones and nodded. _Bobby_ was feeling like a giant ass when he saw Darcy's bright red face. He hadn't meant to be so hard on her, but dammit, he was sick and tired of everyone treating him like a joke. 

"Okay then," he said turning to regard the pool in front of him. "Practical application of your powers. Show me what you've learned," he said, gesturing toward the pool.

Thirty minutes later, after Torrent had walked over the surface of the pool several times, made a sphere out of half the pool's contents on her fifth try, and made a small yet perfect set of waves, Iceman had figured out two things. One, she had no clue how to use her powers in any kind of practical way that could benefit a team situation. And two, she seemed to be really pissed off at him about something. Unfortunately, the second thing would have to wait.

Torrent stood in the center of the pool, small concentric ripples spreading out around her as she awaited his instructions, her eyes hard as she all but glared at him.

"All right then," he started. "Here's what I want you to do. I want you to maintain the surface tension of this entire pool just like that…no matter what." 

"This whole thing?" she questioned. Iceman rested his hands on his hips and grinned at her.

"Come on," he chided, "it's not that big." Her eyes narrowed at him, turning into blue slits that looked like slivers of ice. "Ready?" he asked her.

"What are you going to do?" she asked suspiciously.

Ignoring her question, Iceman bridged out over the pool, stopping over Torrent. "Remember, hold that surface tension," he told her, and before she could react he brought his hands together and formed a chunk of ice the size of a suitcase and dropped it on her like a bomb.

Torrent hopped back out of the way of the falling ice, but in doing so she lost her concentration, making her – and the ice - fall into the pool with a splash.

"I said, _hold_ the surface tension," he said when she came up. If looks could kill, he'd have been struck down on the spot. "Try again," he told her.

Ten minutes later, he was sitting cross-legged on his ice bridge, patiently waiting for Torrent to pull herself up onto the surface again, after her eighth time under. Varying sized chunks of ice floated merrily below, making the pool resemble the arctic sea.

"This sucks! I can't do this! The pool is too big!" Torrent yelled angrily as she stood shivering in her drenched uniform at the side of the pool. Iceman rested his elbows on his knees as he looked down at her.

"Yes, you can, and no, it isn't," he replied to her second and third statements. Pointedly ignoring the first. "Now try it again."

"You're getting off on this, aren't you?" she accused, her teeth chattering. "Watching me freeze my butt off while you chuck ice at me."

"Not really," Iceman sighed. "Torrent, this isn't anything personal. This is training, and I'm trying to help you," he explained patiently.

"What's the point?" she wailed miserably.

"The point is that you should learn to be able to maintain the surface tension of the water, without concentrating, like you do at sea. It should be natural, like second nature. I don't concentrate to ice up, I will it and it happens. It doesn't take my focus away from what's happening around me, like obstacles or opponents," he clarified. "That's what I want from you. I want to be able to drop an iceberg on this pool and have it bounce like tossing a quarter on a trampoline."

"You want too much," she mumbled. "I'm not ready for this."

"You sound like Magma when she first started. She was always telling Jean she wasn't ready," he chuckled. She folded her arms and looked up at him suspiciously.

"Magma?" 

"Amara," he supplied. "Now are you ready to go again," he called down. Her mouth took on a decidedly mutinous expression and she stalked out to the center of the pool. Iceman could see the surface of the water tightening, like a waterbed, and he stepped back from the end of his bridge, an idea occurring to him.

"Fine," she hissed, "go ahead. But I still don't see the point of this--" she complained.

Iceman didn't even let her finish the sentence. Intending to catch her off guard, he waited until he saw the surface tension change and then he brought his foot down on the ice bridge hard. Breaking off a four-foot chunk of the bridge to plummet down onto the pool.

"—It's not like I'm ever gonna need all this boot camp training junk anyway," Torrent grumbled. Completely missing the hunk of ice that fell to the surface two feet in front of her, the ice block bending the surface of the water, but not breaking it. 

"Whoa!" she breathed, her complaining giving over to excitement in a heartbeat. "Did you see that? I did it!" she crowed, before the next two hunks of ice he knocked off sent her plunging into the pool again. He sighed.

"Dammit!" she cried in frustration when she surfaced again. Iceman slid back down his bridge to the edge of the pool and went over to her, offering her his hand to pull her out of the water. She looked at his iced up hand dubiously, and then took it. Letting go as soon as possible.

He shed his ice coating effortlessly. "Don't concentrate on it, just do it. You did fine when you were mad, because you weren't thinking about what you were doing."

"Easy for you to say," she griped, rubbing her arms and trying to keep her teeth from chattering. 

"And easy to do. You just need practice. And that's what this 'boot camp training junk' is all about…learning to work as a team," he parroted. God, maybe Tabby was right…he was starting to sound like Scott.

"W-who ever s-said I w-wanted to b-be on the t-team?" Torrent struggled to say, her body so cold she was shaking violently, trying to get warm. Finally cluing in that his student was freezing, Bobby pronounced the lesson over, and put his arms around her, trying to warm her with his meager body heat, but she remained as stiff in his embrace as a pillar.

"Why are you so mad?" he asked her. "What did I do?"

"You have to ask?" she griped, still shivering.

"Well…yeah. Is it the elevator thing?"

She pushed him away, even though his body heat had been more than welcome. "You should have told me about you and all the girls here you've dated," she accused.

"Why?" he asked. "I'm not dating any of them anymore. It's past history," he said matter of factly. Darcy gaped.

"How can you say that?"

"Well, what do you expect me to say? I'm a mutant. And every girl at Bayville High knows it too. Even if they like me, you think any of them are gonna go out with a mutant and risk getting hassled? Not likely." Bobby told her. "And besides, if I had told you…would you have come?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly. She was starting to warm up a bit as she stood in the sun drying, but it still took some effort to keep her teeth from chattering. Bobby eased closer again, opening his arms a bit in invitation and she stepped into them. Justifying her weakness as just an attempt to get warm.

"Besides, we haven't spent that much time just getting to know each other, the subject didn't come up," Bobby said.

She wasn't quite ready to forgive. "You should have told me about Amara at least, I feel totally stupid since she's my roommate," she scolded.

"When would I have told you? I didn't know you were going to room with Amara until Scott told me in the hall. But by then you were already on your way to your interview," Bobby explained, and then pulled her closer. "Let's go get you out of this wet uniform, what do you say?" he said in a low voice.

It occurred to her later, after she'd shoved Bobby into the slushy and churning pool and stalked back into the Institute, that she _might_ have overreacted a tiny bit. He'd probably intended the comment innocently – in regards to her soaked uniform and chattering teeth. 

Not because he was trying to jump her bones.

_Midnight…_

The moon shone brightly in the window, a week past full as it sailed across the night sky. Darcy had watched it rise out the window from her bed, listening to the sound of Amara's deep breathing as she dreamed, until the sound had lulled Darcy to sleep as well.

Now her eyes popped open, scanning the room as she tried to figure out what had woken her up. A shadow loomed over her, blocking the moonlight from the window and she gasped in surprise and fright. The shadow moved toward her and grasped her by the shoulders, leaning down to loom over her and she instinctively started to struggle.

"Shhh…it's me," Bobby whispered in her ear. 

"Bobby?" she questioned, whispering because he was so they wouldn't wake Amara up. "What's going on?" 

"Get dressed and meet me in the rotunda," he whispered, his breath stirring the hair by her ear. Before she could ask what for, he was gone. Slipping back out the door silently. Darcy bit her lip in indecision. She should really stay in her room; anything Bobby might want to say to her should be able to keep until morning. She doubted the Professor would approve of the two of them wandering the mansion after lights out.

She pulled the covers back, hovering on the edge of going. If nothing else it would give her a chance to apologize for pushing him into the pool and overreacting. But the honest truth was…she just wanted to see him.

"What are you waiting for? Go!" Amara whispered from the darkness of her bed with a giggle. Darcy grinned and hopped up out of bed, dressing in a flash.

"Have fun…" she heard Amara tease as she slipped out of the room.

The moonlight was even brighter at the front of the mansion, slanting in through the many windows that fronted the grand entrance. Bobby slipped out of the shadows of the gallery at the top of the stairs and motioned for her to be quiet and follow him.

A light in the kitchen had Bobby backpedaling into her as he turned and motioned her back up the stairs hurriedly. He pulled her down with him to hide behind the railing in the shadows and they peeked out between the balustrades to see Logan saunter into view with a cup of coffee. He paused before the front doors of the mansion and lifted his head, like he was sniffing the air. Bobby's hand tightened on her wrist, urging her to remain still, especially when Logan's head swung to track along the upper gallery.

After a long moment, Logan gave a quiet grunt of dismissal and they heard his bootheels against the hardwood floor as he left the foyer. Bobby didn't move until they heard the sound of the elevator doors to the lower levels close, and then all he did was exhale. He made them remain there, hunched in the shadows for a full three minutes, making sure Logan had really gone downstairs before sneaking back down the stairway.

The fall air outside was crisp, the night alive with the sound of insects and Darcy could hear the sounds of water – from the fountain in the front as well as the bay nearby – as they stepped from the mansion. Darcy hustled to keep up with Bobby's longer legs as he trotted to the garage, attempting to keep to the darkness, yet not trip the mansion's defenses. He was an old hand at sneaking out after curfew, and good at it too. His success rate higher than any other resident, mostly because he'd memorized Logan's routine.

Digging his keys out of his pocket, Bobby unlocked the door to the garage and they disappeared inside. It was spooky in the dark, but he didn't turn on any lights, knowing they were visible from the outside. He counted the spaces from memory as they crept down the center aisle to his car. Motioning for her to wait, he opened the driver's side door, letting the dome light guide her through the darkness.

His car wasn't what she would have expected him to drive; it was big and old, with bench seats and an engine that purred like a big cat, vibrating the whole car. She fumbled with her seatbelt as Bobby pushed the door opener.

He fully expected to see Logan standing in the middle of the driveway when the big doors silently rolled up, but so far so good and the way out was clear. Still, Bobby didn't breathe easy, or speak until they were out the front gates and on the road toward town.

"We made it," Bobby sighed in relief, and glanced over at his passenger. She sat quietly in the passenger seat and tucked her hair behind her ear in a gesture Bobby was learning to mean she was nervous.

"What are we doing?" she asked.

"I'm giving you your driving tour of Bayville, remember? We did have a date tonight," he teased. In the darkness of the car, Darcy's cheeks burned with chagrin. She'd thought he'd have forgotten or wanted to cancel after she'd thrown him in the pool and then avoided him for the rest of the day.

Bobby drove her past Bayville High, the Galleria, the movie theatre, and other important landmarks as he looped through downtown. It amazed Darcy that with how wooded and secluded the area around the Institute was; there was such a major metropolitan center nearby. Where she was from in Iowa there was nothing, surrounded by a whole lot more of nothing.

Bayville was nice; it didn't have the stark exotic beauty of Honolulu, or the charm of Hana back in the Islands. But it seemed like a nice place to live. 

They drove up into the hills overlooking Bayville to Lookout Point and Bobby parked the car and cut the engine. The silence was almost palpable after the quiet roar of the car's powerful engine. The darkness of the surrounding woods seeped in around them in contrast to the glow of the city lights below them.

Darcy heard the click of Bobby unhooking his seatbelt as he shifted on the bench seat to lean more against the driver's side door to face her, and she quietly unhooked her own belt as well. She wasn't totally naïve, she'd been parking before, but never with anyone that made her heart beat in her throat and her palms feel clammy. It was the hidden pool all over again.

"Bobby…" she murmured, trying to work up the nerve to apologize for her atrocious behavior earlier when Bobby spoke at the same time.

"Do you mind if we park here and talk for a little while?" Bobby interrupted. Darcy shook her head.

"No, I don't mind," she said quietly. Bobby grinned at her, his teeth flashing in the dark and he released the seat lever, tilting the bench seat back until it was nearly flat. Darcy gave a surprised shriek of giggles as the seatback she'd been leaning against suddenly left her prone. "Warn me next time," she laughed.

Bobby folded his arms behind his head and gazed out the windshield at the few stars that were visible over the horizon. "What would be the fun in that?" he joked. "Want some music?"

"Sure."

He flipped on the radio of the car and turned the volume way down, cringing when he heard the melody of the latest boy band sensation playing. Somebody had been messing with his radio settings again, probably Jubilee, she was always trying to make him listen to love songs when they were hanging out. He stabbed the next radio preset button, satisfied when he heard some respectable – if dated – rock playing.

"You don't like sappy ballads?" Darcy asked him, a teasing lilt to her voice.

"No. I don't like any music where the singer sounds like he's having his works squeezed in a vise," Bobby said dryly. Darcy put her hands over her mouth as she snorted with laughter. Bobby grinned, he much preferred her laughing and smiling to the furious and prickly drowned rat she'd been that afternoon. He turned his head to look at her, and found her watching him, her pale eyes shining in the moonlight.

"I'm sorry," she murmured softly.

"For what?" 

"Pushing you in the pool. Being such a brat about you being my instructor. Questioning you about your old girlfriends, it's really none of my business," she said chagrined. Bobby rolled on his side to face her, propping his head up on his hand as he looked at her.

"It's okay. I can see why you were mad, but I really wasn't trying to keep anything from you. I would have told you if the subject had come up."

"I know," she replied.

"Is there anything else you want to know?" he asked. He could see the unspoken questions in the expression of her face. She was rather transparent that way. He moved a little closer, hoping that she would meet him in the middle of the seat, and she obliged, rolling on her side to face him.

"Were you…serious about Amara?"

Bobby wondered why she seemed fixated on his brief relationship with Amara, but then he reasoned that it was probably because she was rooming with her. But it seemed strange to him that she only ever mentioned Amara, and not Cory, or Jubilee. Even though none of his relationships thus far he could qualify as serious. It never occurred to him to wonder how she knew he'd dated Amara in the first place.

"No. Amara and I only went out a few times. We were friends, and attracted to each other, but when we tried to take it further it just didn't work. Despite how neat it sounds, fire and ice do _not_ mix," Bobby told her with a chuckle.

"No?" Darcy questioned, catching her lower lip with her teeth. "What about ice and water?" she asked shyly, glad of the dark that would hide her blush.

Bobby's fingertips brushed her cheek softly as he reached for her, sliding into her hair as he held her head in his palm. "Can't have ice without water," he murmured, and kissed her smile away.

Darcy wiggled closer until she could press the length of her body against his as they kissed, throwing her arm around his neck while her head rested against his arm enclosing her in the cocoon of his embrace, and she didn't want to be anywhere else. 

She sighed contentedly when Bobby slowly drew back from her lips, and she opened her eyes to look into his dark ones only inches away. "So," he said to her with a teasing glint in his eye. "Are there any ex-boyfriends of yours I should know about?"

Darcy blinked, turn about was fair play, but she hadn't expected Bobby to ever ask her about her past. "Nobody special," she said vaguely. Her father had never allowed her to date any boy more than two times, and most boys, while taken with her looks and personality weren't about to stand up to the Reverend. Darcy sobered as she thought of her father…he definitely wouldn't like Bobby, she knew that already.

Bobby tipped her face back up to his with a finger under her chin. "I only ever dated three," Bobby told her. "And none of them ever made me feel like…_this_. I really like you, Darcy."

Darcy's breath caught. She couldn't even answer except to lean her face closer and plant a kiss on his lips. And then another, and another, until they all blended into one seamless meeting of lips and tongue as they tasted and explored each other. She marveled in the different textures of Bobby, his soft hair that she buried her fingers in, the faintest prickle of beard stubble on his chin, the slickness of his mouth. 

Bobby gently eased her to her back so he could lean over her as they kissed, moving on to explore her jaw line with his lips as he made his way to her ear. She shivered against him as he traced her shell shaped ear with his cool lips, her skin so warm it seemed to brand him. He couldn't get enough of her heat as he kept her body close to his.

He scraped his lips lightly over her neck and she squirmed in his arms, jamming her shoulder up to her ear to protect her sensitive neck. "Noooo…" she giggled, "that tickled too much." Bobby grinned, stroking the exposed skin on the other side of her neck with his chilled fingers. 

"Come on," he cajoled, "let me in there…" She twisted and writhed, trying to keep his lips and fingers from tickling her over sensitized skin.

"I can't!" she gasped between giggles. "I'm really ticklish."

"Are you ticklish all over?" Bobby asked, wagging his eyebrows at her. Darcy tried catching her breath, the nerve endings of her neck working overtime. She looked up at him as he leaned over her, his face silver and shadow from the moonlight, his eyes locked on hers. She was glad he hadn't glanced down, or he'd discover that between the kissing and him tickling her neck her nipples had tightened like tiny stones.

"I-I don't know," she answered honestly.

Bobby looked serious as he leaned down and kissed her softly. "I hope I get to find out someday," he said against her lips. Her eyes were luminous and huge when he pulled back to look at her, and he took advantage to dip his head and kiss her throat, up to underneath her chin, before he attempted to kiss her neck again. This time instead of trying to buck him off of her with her flailing, she clutched at his shoulder and the back of his head, trying to bring him closer.

There were so very many things he wanted to do with her, like pull her soft black top off and know if those tight little nubs he could see poking through the fabric tasted as sweetly as her mouth and neck did. He wanted to know the weight of her small breasts in his palms. He wanted to run his hands over her sleek slender curves and touch her everywhere.

Which was an excellent indicator to him that he needed to stop. Now. Before he got to a place where doing so would be painful. He ran his hand down her side to her waist, heroically avoiding the temptation to cop a feel as he reluctantly pulled his mouth away from her fragrant skin. He loved the smell of her, Ivory soap and coconut shampoo, she smelled tasty.

"We better get back, we have more training in the morning," he apologized. She nodded in agreement. "Tomorrow, after dinner, would you like to walk around the grounds of the Institute? I could show you the gazebo," he offered. She tipped her head to the side as she gazed up at him, smiling slightly.

"On one condition," she purred. He raised an eyebrow for her to continue. "It's my turn to nibble at your neck next time."

Bobby gave a long-suffering sigh, even as he was grinning stupidly on the inside. "Well, all right I guess so…" he relented, sounding incredibly put upon. "But you'll owe me," he teased her, earning himself a playful whack on the arm.

She rode back strapped into the middle of the front seat so Bobby could drive with one arm around her narrow shoulders as he tucked her against his side. One of the advantages to the old junker car he'd inherited from his grandfather. No center console meant he could zoom along the road with his girl right beside him.

"So we have this all worked out now?" he asked her quietly. 

"Meaning?" she questioned, her hand resting innocently on his khaki clad thigh as she sat beside him, but he was totally aware of the warmth of her hand.

"That I'm your boyfriend," he said bluntly. Hearing him say it out loud made the corners of her mouth twitch up in a smile.

"I guess so," she sighed, turning his joke around on him.

They thought they were so sneaky. But a person didn't get to be his age without picking up a few tricks.

Logan waited in the foyer of the mansion, knowing Drake would pass back this way on the way back up to his room, and when he caught him, the Icicle was his.

To the boy's credit he was getting harder and harder to catch when he snuck out after curfew. Proving to Logan that the kid could improve in other areas if he'd just apply himself to his training a little more and stop being such a showoff.

Well, he'd get the chance now as Logan envisioned a whole new Danger Room setting designed to teach the Iceman some humility. He should probably drag his partner in crime, Cannonball, and Iceman's new little girlfriend, Torrent in on it too, just on principle. More the merrier.

"Well now, look at the volunteers I just found for an extra session this week," Logan drawled when Bobby and Darcy snuck down the hall and into the foyer. The new girl looked like a deer in the headlights as she gaped at him. It almost made Logan feel sorry for the kid, but if she was going to keep questionable company, then she'd better learn to deal with the consequences.

"It was totally my fault, and my idea, Logan. Don't blame Darcy," Bobby said, holding his hands up to Logan. "Do what you want to me, but she just started here, cut her some slack…please?" Bobby wheedled. Logan bared his teeth; he was getting soft in his old age.

Logan jerked his head at the staircase and Darcy fled up it quickly and without a backwards glance, seeming desperate to escape his company. He noticed Bobby's eyes were riveted to her every move, a lazy kind of satisfaction in his gaze.

"I hope sneaking out was worth it, Icicle…cause I own you for the rest of the week," Logan promised.

"Oh yeah," Bobby told him quietly, his grin huge. "She's totally worth it."

***

Next Chapter: A new instructor for Darcy, and the first day of school!

AN: Just a quick thank you to the reviewers: Rurouni Tyriel, togepi4eva, Charmed1s, Camille, Brandon B, Namek Kaia, Ashley, Mercurial1, Raining Star.

Also, did another fanart of Darcy, this time with Bobby. You can see it at: www. kinomiville.net / bobby-darcy.gif (w/o spaces) or see link on my bio page.

Until next time, keep that feedback coming!


	7. Unwanted

AN: For those who have asked..

Beyond Evolution : http:// x-men.aifandom .com/ (without the spaces of course – since ffnet will not display URL's here)

Disclaimer: XME, no. Darcy Harper, yes.

**Melt Me**

Chapter Seven: Unwanted

***

_Bayville Galleria, Saturday afternoon._

They'd been given the last weekend before the start of school off. No training, no Danger Room exercises. The fact of which a certain water mutant among the group was exceedingly grateful.

So, like all teenagers with nothing better to do, they had descended en masse upon the mall. Between Bobby's old car, Ray's truck, and Kitty's little hatchback, a good portion of the Institute's younger student body was represented that afternoon. Although the only ones brave enough to ride with Kitty were the Guthrie's. 

Despite splitting up when they'd first gotten to the mall, it was only a matter of time before they regrouped. Everyone converging on the large round coffee kiosk at one end of the mall called The Java Spot.

Bobby and Darcy had been there first, sharing one of the large overstuffed chairs on the backside of the kiosk, looking for some privacy. They didn't get it for long though before they were overrun.

"I can't believe that summer is over already! It feels like we just got out, now we gotta go back to school already?" Jamie Madrox complained morosely, resting his chin on the postage stamp sized table. His companions echoed his sentiments wholeheartedly.

"At least it's our last year," Bobby pointed out cheerfully. Jamie just drooped lower, flicking a large stray crumb of his muffin across the table toward where Bobby sat crosswise in the chair; Darcy nestled between his spread legs like two spoons in a drawer.

"Speak for yourself, I'm only a sophomore," Jamie griped.

"Quit complaining, Jamie. You kids have like, got it made compared to what I have to go through!" Kitty laughed. "College is like, way harder than high school."

"Kids?" Bobby blurted, "You're only a year older than us!" He said, gesturing to include most of the group present.

"Yeah, well," Kitty explained. "I'm just like, more mature."

Bobby rolled his eyes. "_Riiiiight_. I'm surprised you're deigning to be seen with us _children_ at the mall, then." He said sarcastically. Kitty made a face.

"You guys are still my _friends_, duh!" she told him.

On the far side of the group, Jubilee watched the exchange between Bobby and Kitty with miserable eyes as she chewed the straw of her caramel frappucino with a vengeance. Every detail of the way Bobby sat scrunched in the corner of the big chair so Darcy could share it with him burning into her mind. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the way Bobby draped himself over her, his arms folded around her shoulders, holding her to rest against his chest, his fingers toying with a lock of her long hair. They were so disgustingly cute together it made Jubilee want to scream at the very least. Mostly because the prevailing thought in her mind was that Bobby had never acted that way with her, and it was all she'd ever wanted. Was it so much to ask for? 

It was apparent to her that her first tack had failed. Obviously Darcy hadn't taken her warnings and offers for advice seriously. Jubilee wasn't ruling out possibly playing the insecurity card with Bobby's new girlfriend again at a future point, but right now the two of them looked so completely smitten with each other. Lost in the first bloom of infatuation. Now Jubilee just had to bide her time until the novelty wore off with Bobby…and she was sure that it would.

In the meantime, it couldn't hurt to have a backup plan. She couldn't act directly against her rival – as unwitting as that rival may be – for fear of alienating Bobby. But it had occurred to Jubilee, as she watched Darcy struggle morning after morning to keep up with the most basic of Danger Room exercises, that Darcy's obvious dislike of the X-man training program may be her downfall. Jubilee just needed to find a way to exploit that misery. After all, if Darcy quit and left the Institute, then Jubilee could just swoop in to mend Bobby's broken heart.

Her attention was pulled back to the group when Amara, Tabby, and Roberto joined them. Telling them that they planned to head down to the movie theatre at the other end of the mall to see a horror movie.

"We'll go!" Bobby said quickly. Jubilee's eyes narrowed when she saw Darcy start to say she didn't like horror movies and then snap her mouth shut with a blush at whatever Bobby whispered in her ear.

"Sounds like fun," Darcy squeaked. Jubilee wanted to scratch her eyes out.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," Tabby teased, leaning over to whisper in Jubilee's ear. Jubilee's spine stiffened that she'd been caught staring and she glared up at Tabby. Tabitha just winked at her, before moving past to sit on the arm of Ray's chair. Then without asking, she took his coffee out of his hand and drank some, just to get a rise out of him.

"Goddamnit, Boom-Boom, you better not backwash in that," Ray hissed.

"Whoops!" Tabby said with exaggerated cheerfulness. 

Darcy was floating on air as she walked with her new friends down the length of the mall to the movie theatre. It was the first time she'd felt totally and completely normal in a very long time. If she closed her eyes she could almost pretend she was with her friends back home when they made the forty-minute drive to the mall in Sioux City.

The most notable difference from those days being the warm arm that was now draped over her shoulders as she walked along, her own arm circling his waist. If she played the denial game and only focused on the present – this very minute – then Darcy could unequivocally and honestly say that she was happy. And it was all because of the young man beside her. 

She leaned her head in and tightened the arm she had around his waist briefly in an awkward hug. Bobby looked over at her and smiled at the unexpected gesture of affection. Pressing his lips against her temple briefly as they walked, giving her a quick kiss.

"I really don't like horror movies. I'm such a wimp, I'll probably spend the whole movie with my eyes closed," Darcy laughed.

Bobby chuckled softly and leaned closer. "Probably, since I intend to spend the whole thing kissing the lip gloss right off you."

Darcy felt like the tip of her ears were going to evaporate into steam as the heat climbed up her neck and cheeks and her stomach flip-flopped.

"And now the moment of truth," Roberto said from ahead of them where he, Amara, and Jamie lead the way. "Will Amanda be working today…?"

"I hope so," Kitty said. "Kurt, like, totally said she would be."

"Kurt's girlfriend Amanda works part time at the movie theatre," Bobby explained at Darcy's questioning look. "She's one of the only people there that'll sell us tickets."

"Why?" Darcy asked, before she could stop herself. She'd been so at ease she'd almost forgotten. 

Tabby came up on the other side of Darcy, and before she could react, leaned over and planted a big kiss on Darcy's cheek, leaving a bright red lipstick print as a souvenir. "Oh, you are just a little _doll!_" Tabby crowed, delighted. "Don't ever change!"

Bobby half seriously scowled at Tabby, pulling Darcy closer and making shooing motions at the blonde girl. "Mine! Go find your own." Bobby scolded.

"Oh, I plan on it," Tabby teased in response, giving Bobby a salacious wink, before hurrying up to walk with Amara and Roberto.

Darcy blushed and scrubbed at the lipstick print with the heel of her hand. "I meant, why wouldn't the other employees sell you tickets? We still have rights under the fourteenth amendment last time I checked."

"Maybe where _you're_ from. Around here there's just an over abundance of: 'We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone' signs. Which they conveniently choose to enforce whenever we come around." Jubilee said bitterly. Glad the acidity of her tone could be attributed to mutant rights, and not the fact that Bobby was smilingly wiping the lipstick print off Darcy's cheek with his thumb.

"That's not right," Darcy said, twisting out from under Bobby's hand to look back at Jubilee. Jubilee gave her a wide smile, but it didn't reach her eyes, and she shrugged noncommittally.

"Welcome to Bayville."

Darcy wasn't sure how to respond to that. Ever since discovering she was a mutant, she'd been lucky in that she had been spared any anti-mutant hostility and discrimination from the general public. She'd gotten more than her share from her family though, enough to last a lifetime.

She was saved from having to say anything by their arrival at the box office. Darcy reached into her pocket to fish out some of the money that Alex had given her to pay for her ticket, but Bobby stopped her.

"I'll get it," he told her, and then gave her one of those grins. "You can pay me back later."

Darcy stopped stock still at the double entendre she thought she heard in Bobby's voice. "Whaaat?" she demanded.

"See? I told you…all he wants is sex." she heard Jubilee's silky voice in her ear, like a buzzing insect, and she could feel Jubilee's presence almost against her back. But when Bobby turned back around from the ticket window, a confused expression on his face, Jubilee was gone. Like she'd never been there.

"What, 'what'?" Bobby asked. "I meant that you could pay next time we go if you want. What did you think I meant?" he chuckled.

Darcy glanced over, but Jubilee was already heading into the theatre with Jamie and Sam. Darcy shook her head slightly - she must be imagining things – and took Bobby's proffered hand. Smiling back up at her boyfriend. It gave her such a thrilling rush tingling up her spine whenever she thought of him as such.

"Do you mind getting us some popcorn?" Bobby asked once they were inside, handing her his change from the tickets. "I'll get us seats and meet you inside," he told her before heading down the theatre hallway toward the restrooms.

The theatre was relatively quiet considering it was the last weekend before school, and so there were only about three people ahead of her when Darcy got in line at the concession stand. The girls ahead of her looked to be about her own age and Darcy smiled at them warmly when they looked at her. Her smile fell away however when they didn't return her friendly gesture. In fact, they were downright rude as they deliberately turned their backs on her and kept talking.

Another line at the counter opened, and the attendant called for the next person in line. Darcy walked over to the counter and the young man working the counter glared at her. "I'm sorry, _Miss_, but you just cut in front of these people," he snapped. 

Darcy glanced behind her and saw a middle aged couple who were just walking up to the counter. Confused, Darcy turned back to the employee. "No I didn't," Darcy told him. "I was next in line. I was behind them." Darcy motioned to the girls at the next cash register.

"No, she wasn't!" One of the girls said nastily. Darcy's jaw dropped that they were so obviously lying.

"May I help you, Sir?" The employee in front of Darcy said, dismissing her as he addressed the man in line behind Darcy. Darcy's temper started to rise at the horrible unfairness of the way she was being treated. 

"You may _not!_" Darcy said loudly. "I was next in line. It's my turn!"

"It's all right. The young lady was next…" The gentleman in line behind Darcy was saying. Embarrassed at the situation. The concession employee looked angry enough to chew metal and spit out nails as he glared at Darcy with enough hatred to make her skin crawl. Instead it just made her madder, and she could almost feel the feeble control she had wanting to slip away.

"I'm invoking my right to refuse service to a _mutant_," the concession stand guy spat. The couple behind Darcy gasped in shock and backed away. The girls in the next line looked on avidly, their eyes sparkling with malice. Darcy's face burned to have so many people staring at her, and with such hostility too. 

She was so angry she couldn't even find the words to express her outrage at the blatant bigotry of the idiot behind the counter. Hot tears burned behind her eyes that she refused to let fall, but it was a tenuous hold she had over her emotions at the moment. She clenched her teeth and her fists, her nails biting into her palms.

"I just want…a large drink…and a medium popcorn. That's all," Darcy ground out slowly. 

"You're disrupting the other customers, mutie, now get out of here and go take your seat before I have an usher throw you out," the guy said bravely. He seemed to feed on how upset and helpless she was, like it was making him empowered.

"Yeah! Throw her out!" the girls near Darcy chanted. "Throw her out! Throw her out!"

Darcy literally shook with humiliation and anger, and she could suddenly feel the water coursing through the pipes of the building like she could feel her blood rushing through her veins. The water straining at its confines…wanting to be unleashed.

The concession employee's eyes widened and then narrowed to angry little slits as the hoses in his drink dispenser rattled and shook inside the metal housing. "Whatcha gonna do, mutie? Use your powers?" he taunted.

"Howard! Back off!" 

Howard, the concession employee, bristled as Amanda crossed the lobby from the box office in long purposeful strides. Like some beautiful avenging angel. Darcy nearly sobbed with relief to see Tabby and Amara following along with her. Her saviors.

"It's my right! I don't have to serve their kind!" Howard said petulantly as Amanda lifted the partition and went behind the counter. Her dark eyes angry as she pinned Howard to the spot like a bug.

"Go take your break, you close minded little worm…" Amanda hissed quietly, and then turned those deadly orbs on the high school girls. "Your movie is starting," Amanda said with exaggerated sweetness. The middle-aged couple, Darcy discovered, had fled to their theatre once things had heated up, and the other concession employee, the one who had been helping the girls, suddenly found something vastly important to do in the back room when Amanda gave her a pitying glare.

"Mutie lover!" Howard said nastily as he stomped out of the concession stand.

"Every damn _night_!" Amanda retorted hotly.

"You go girl! I know who wears the pants with you and Blue now…and it sure ain't Blue!" Tabby laughed, and high fived Amanda over the counter. Amanda laughed softly.

"Are you okay, Darcy?" Amara asked, putting her arm around her shaking roommate. Darcy shook her head, tears slipping down her cheeks as she gritted her teeth. "Is it your powers?" Amara whispered, so no one else could hear. Darcy nodded and gasped, trying to get her emotions back under control. "Do you want me to go get Bobby?" Amara asked her gently.

"No!" Darcy blurted, and as she did she felt things bubble up in her and then recede, her control coming back. She didn't want Bobby to see her lose her cool, not since he was her teacher too. She didn't want him to know how close to the edge she really was. She drew a shaky breath and managed a small smile and reassuring nod for Amara when the darker haired girl asked again if she was all right, before looking up to Amanda. 

"Thank you for stepping in. I hope you don't get into trouble because of me." Darcy said sincerely. Kurt's girlfriend smiled and made a dismissive gesture with her hand.

"They won't dare, they're all scared of my father…the attorney," she laughed, and then took her order. Darcy was still trying to calm her racing heart as Amara petted her long hair soothingly.

"This kind of thing has never happened to me before," Darcy said suddenly, and to no one in particular. Amanda smiled sympathetically as she filled up a large cup of soda.

"Well, sweetie, I'm afraid to say that it probably won't be the last time if you're planning to stay here in Bayville and live at the Institute," Amanda said regretfully.

Amanda's words stuck with her as she paid for their snacks and carried the concessions into the theatre, Tabby and Amara on either side of her.

"Is it really always this bad?" Darcy asked softly as they walked up the access aisle into the theatre. Tabby took a handful of Bobby's popcorn and shoveled it into her mouth.

"Sometimes," Amara said quietly. "School can be bad, but after a while you just learn to ignore it. It's mostly name-calling, its rare when people get violent."

Darcy looked up at the stadium seating before her. The actual movie being busier than the lobby had let on. She saw Bobby waving at her from the last row at the very top of the theatre and she started following Tabby up the stairs to where their group had taken over the last two rows. The row in front of that was completely empty – despite the crowd.

"Like sitting at the back of the bus!" Tabby called out stridently from ahead of Darcy. Her blue eyes boldly meeting anyone's who challenged her, but most looked away uncomfortably. 

Darcy watched with some amusement as Tabby climbed over Jubilee and made Jamie switch seats, just so she could sit between Ray and Amara. Darcy moved down the mostly empty aisle that Bobby was in to sit beside him. The lights were dim in the theatre, but Bobby still gave her red blotchy face some concern.

"Something happen?" he asked, setting their popcorn down in the empty seat between he, Sam and Jamie before turning to face her. Darcy shrugged. Even though their friends in the row below were facing forward, Darcy knew they could hear her, and since Jubilee was directly in front of Bobby, Darcy didn't want to get into it there. Not while she still felt like she'd been sucker punched.

"Yeah, but I don't want to talk about it. I'll tell you later if you want to know," she said softly. Amara twisted around in her seat to glance at them, and that glance seemed to tell Bobby all he needed to know. He flipped the armrest up and put his arm around Darcy's shoulders, pulling her in closer to his chest as he leaned back in his seat.

"You got hassled at the candy counter, didn't you?" Bobby asked. Darcy nodded, resting her head on his shoulder. Bobby squeezed her gently. "I should have stayed with you," he said regretfully. "You're new here so I thought you wouldn't get harassed because they don't know you. I'm sorry."

"If you knew this kind of thing went on here…why didn't you tell me?" Darcy murmured, turning her face inward to the juncture of Bobby's neck and shoulder. Seeking that feeling of peace she found whenever she was close to him.

Bobby didn't answer, and she knew why. It was the same as why he hadn't told her about his ex-girlfriends, because she wouldn't have come if she'd known. Darcy didn't like the feeling she was being manipulated. Like she'd been played by Scott and the others from minute one just to get her to come to Bayville.

"I know it's kinda hard, but you have to learn to not let it get to you. Just shake it off. They're closed minded idiots, they don't know us, and they don't _want_ to know us…and that's their loss. It's pathetic and sad really," Bobby said for her ears only.

Darcy sniffled and nodded her head, wrapping her arms around Bobby's waist as she burrowed closer to him. The lights went out, bathing them in darkness a moment before the screen lit up to show some trailers.

"Now were talking," Bobby said quietly, and despite how upset she was, Darcy couldn't help but smile. She tipped her face up to see him grinning down at her before he gave her a most welcome kiss. Somehow Bobby could make everything seem better, and she hugged him tighter when the kiss was over. 

"Hey! Who swiped my popcorn?"

***

_Xavier Institute, 7:00 am, Monday, First day of school._

"Darcy! Get up!"

Darcy groaned and pulled her pillow over her head, trying to block out Amara's voice. But the Nova Roman princess wasn't having any of it and she sat down on Darcy's backside as the she lay on her stomach and tried burying herself deeper under her pillows.

"Get up, get up, get up," Amara chanted, bouncing up and down on her roommate. She'd found that bodily accosting Darcy was the only way to get her moving in the morning. "Bathroom is free, but it won't be for long and it's the first day of school…so move it!" Amara yelled, dragging the pillows off her head. 

"What are you? My own personal alarm clock?" Darcy growled. 

Amara, freshly dressed and pressed and looking more than fine in her own opinion, rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. In the two and a half weeks that Darcy had been her roommate she'd learned one thing as absolute truth, Darcy was _not_ a morning person.

"Ha! It's just payback for how you keep me up half the night snoring, drool girl," Amara teased. She got the desired reaction when Darcy sat straight up, the expression of shocked outrage on her face almost comical.

"I don't snore!" she told Amara emphatically. "I don't drool either."

"I know it," Amara laughed. "But since you're up…" She pointed toward the door in a not so subtle hint to get ready.

Twenty minutes later, as Amara steered a showered and dressed – though still mostly asleep – Darcy down to breakfast, she wondered at the wisdom of the Professor in making Darcy her roommate. 

The kitchen was bustling as various students tried to gain their sustenance before the day started. Dorian Leech and Paige Guthrie were already giving their dirty dishes to Storm as they dashed to catch a ride to the Junior High from Kitty on her way to college.

Darcy slumped into a chair at the end of the kitchen table, not awake enough to risk getting trampled in the crowd while she hunted up something for breakfast. She was a night owl by nature – or had become one since leaving Iowa and her early rising family – now it seemed she was back amongst those who greeted the dawn personally. 

"Want some oatmeal?" Jamie asked from where he sat on her left. Darcy grunted something non-intelligible that Jamie construed to mean yes, and he grabbed an empty bowl from the stack in the center of the table and served Darcy up a bowl from the cooker pot Ororo had placed beside it.

"Cinnamon and raisins?" Jamie asked her. Darcy shrugged again, her blue eyes at half-mast. "Brown sugar and milk?" Jamie asked rhetorically as he just continued making Darcy's breakfast for her. "How about some orange juice?"

"For god's sake, Multiple! You gonna feed it to her too?" Ray snapped from the other end of the table where he was working through his own bowl of cereal and reading the comics. 

"Wouldja mind?" Darcy asked Jamie lazily, and stuck her tongue out at Ray when she caught his eye. Ray just looked annoyed and went back to his comics.

Jamie grinned and scooped up some oatmeal on a spoon and held it out to Darcy. She took the spoon from him with a little grin and slid the bowl over in front of her. "I think I've got it, thanks," she told him.

She ate her oatmeal slowly, seeming to move at half the speed of everyone else as they scarfed their breakfasts in order to catch the varying modes of transportation leaving for school. 

"I'm leaving in five whoever's riding with me," Ray announced, clearing his dishes. Jamie hopped up and grabbed his backpack and an orange and trotted after Ray. 

"Wait up!" Rahne called after them, trying to gulp down the last of her coffee. She took her toast with her as she hurried off.

Jean and Scott walked into the kitchen debating over whose turn it was to drive the younger students to school that morning.

"I drove them on the last day, it's _so_ your turn, Scott," Jean told her boyfriend. Scott ran a careless hand through his rumpled hair to scratch the back of his neck.

"No way! I had to take them on that field trip, that ought to count for at least a weeks worth," Scott retorted, filling his coffee cup. Jean's mouth dropped open and she fisted her hands on her hips.

"I don't think so, Summers. You _wanted_ to take that recruitment so you could see your brother. That doesn't count."

"I have an idea," Ororo said quietly from the sink where she was cleaning up from making breakfast for a baker's dozen or so of the mansion's residents. "You could stay here and clean up the kitchen after everyone, and _I'll_ take them to school," she said mildly.

"No, that's fine, Storm…we'll…uh…work it out, right, Jean?" Scott said quickly. 

"Absolutely. Um, Scott…why don't you take them today – since I have class with the Professor - and I'll drive them tomorrow, is that fair?" Jean asked, imploring Scott with her eyes to go along with her. Scott bobbed his head like he belonged on a dashboard.

"No problem, you, uh…mind if I borrow your SUV then?"

"No, not at all…" Jean said quickly.

At the table, Amara, Darcy, and Tabitha watched the exchange like it was tennis as they volleyed back and forth. Tabby was holding her sides as she laughed loudly.

"They're like those two chipmunks in the cartoons," Tabby gasped out.

Scott failed to see the humor and he checked his watch grumpily. "Where's Drake? I can't take everybody, even in Jean's car."

Bobby sailed into the kitchen with his usual perfect timing, Sam on his heels. "Somebody say my name?"

"Great, you're here, but where are Jubilee and Roberto? Why do _I_ have to chase _them_ down? They're the ones with school…" Scott griped and left the kitchen to round up the missing. Jean just smiled smugly into her coffee as she leaned against the counter next to Ororo.

Darcy pushed around her cold half eaten oatmeal and yawned hugely behind her hand. "Morning starts too early," she told the bowl. Bobby plopped down in the chair next to her with a bagel and a glass of orange juice.

"You riding with me this morning?" he asked around a mouthful of bagel. Darcy turned her sleepy blue eyes on him and half smiled, the expression on her face making Bobby's pulse speed up a little. She looked way sexy with her half opened eyes and enigmatic smile.

"You mean I have a choice?" she teased, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you could ride with Scott."

She blinked slowly. She'd never ridden with Scott, and so had no basis for comparison, she just enjoyed flirting with Bobby.

"I'll take you," she told him, and smiled. Letting his imagination run away with him on that one. Which obviously it did since she saw his ears get red.

Bobby hid his grin behind his orange juice as his dark eyes met hers over the rim of the glass and held them.

"It just gets so _thick_ around here sometimes, don't you think?" Amara asked Tabby innocently. "Like you need a knife to cut it."

Tabby rested her chin on her hand as she watched Darcy and Bobby grin at each other like a couple of loons. "I dunno, I think it's kinda cute. And watching Bobby-pop make a colossal ass of himself is always entertaining," she observed.

"Tabby!" Jean scolded her for language. Tabby rolled her eyes, since Jean was behind her. Amara just bit her tongue.

"You ready for your first day, Darcy?" Ororo asked gently. Darcy tore her eyes away from Bobby reluctantly and nodded.

"I guess so," she said with a smile.

"Then let's hit it," Bobby said, hopping up from his chair. "Sooner we get there, the sooner it's over with."

"Nice attitude there, Bobby," Jean chided. Bobby gave her his most winning grin and shrugged.

"How about all the girls ride with me so I look good when we show up at school?" Bobby joked as he followed Darcy, Amara, and Tabby out the door.

"Aw, man…that's harsh." Sam complained as he brought up the rear of the group.

Ororo shook her head in the almost deafening stillness of the deserted kitchen. "And just think, tomorrow it's your turn," Storm said to the slender redhead beside her. Jean snorted indelicately.

"Yeah right, like that'll happen."

***

_Bayville High School, lunchtime._

The cafeteria of Bayville High was a divided camp. It had been so ever since mutants had been exposed. On one side were the mutant haters, aka the jocks, who felt it was their personal mission in life to harass and provoke every mutant they came across. Middle ground was occupied by those neutral to the discrimination and persecution mutants suffered, yet not willing to openly support them and possibly be tagged 'mutie-lover'. The far side of the cafeteria was mutant territory. Anyone sitting at those tables automatically made themselves a target. 

Bobby sat with his back to the wall – for the same reason he'd chosen the last row of the theatre, so he could see whatever might get thrown at him – and watched the door, waiting for his girlfriend.

He'd dropped her off at the Principal's office to get her schedule right at the first bell, and hadn't seen her since. So far she didn't seem to be in any of his classes, but he found it odd that he hadn't seen her in the halls yet either. He had her lunch, she'd been so nervous when they'd gotten to school that she'd forgotten to take it from him.

When she finally walked into the cafeteria she seemed to brighten his whole day and he couldn't help but stare at her unobserved for a moment as she hesitantly looked around.

"Hey new girl! Why don't you come and sit with us?" Kevin Donaldson, one of the big blonde jocks on the baseball team – the one who'd replaced Bobby when they'd kicked him off for being a mutant actually – called over to Darcy. Bobby scowled.

Darcy smiled politely, tucking her hair behind her ear – a sure sign she was nervous he'd discovered – and shook her head. "No thank you, I'm looking for someone."

"Well, you won't find them on _that_ side of the cafeteria. That's where the freaks sit," Kevin laughed and patted the bench seat next to him. "I see you don't have any lunch, come sit down…I'll share mine."

Even from across the room, Bobby could see the way his girlfriend's spine stiffened at the mention of freaks. Her whole demeanor became bristling and defensive. "Freaks?" she questioned archly, and those unusually pale eyes of hers narrowed.

"The Mutie's," Kevin said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "Come on, sit down and have some lunch with me, and I'll show you all the ropes before fourth period starts…" he said coaxingly, reaching out and clasping Darcy's wrist loosely.

"Pass," Darcy said flatly, removing her wrist deftly from his grasp. "I already have a boyfriend to 'show me the ropes' around here." She told him and without looking back, crossed the cafeteria to where her friends sat. She gave Bobby a wide and genuine smile as she sat down next to him.

"Do you think I can bum some of your lunch? I'm starving," Darcy asked. Bobby grinned and set her lunch bag in front of her.

"I can do you one better, how about your very own lunch?"

"You are absolutely wonderful!" Darcy said with feeling, digging into the sandwich Ororo had packed for her with gusto. Bobby grinned smugly.

"Never, ever _tell_ him that…or you won't be able to stand him," Ray offered from down the table as he guarded his lunch from Tabitha's nibbling. "Boom-Boom, quit poaching off my chips."

"I don't care, he can get a swelled head all he wants. For this," Darcy said around a mouthful of sandwich. "He's a prince."

The table at large groaned loudly at the opening Darcy had just given Bobby to be crude, but instead he folded his arms behind his head and leaned back with a grin – which was somehow worse.

"That's it, I'm out of here. No way am I gonna stick around and see how _this_ conversation deteriorates," Ray said, finishing off the last of his chips.

"Wimp," Bobby said cheerfully.

Once Darcy had finished her food, they still had over a half an hour of lunch period left, so excusing themselves from the others they wandered out toward the mostly deserted bleachers of the football field. Comparing their schedules, Bobby was relieved to learn that he and Darcy would at least have fourth and fifth period together.

"I was afraid I'd _never_ get to see you," Bobby laughed.

Darcy gave him one of her smiles, that slightly shy, slightly wicked expression of hers that made his pulse race and his mind run to the gutter. "There's always after school," she told him.

Bobby knew she meant the comment innocently. She was innocent, he could tell by the way she was still so shy around him, always letting him make the first move, letting him initiate the teasing and flirting between them. But he also noticed that she was slowly starting to be more comfortable with him, that she needed him. He saw it in the way she had turned to him after the incident at the theatre. The way her eyes followed him whenever she was feeling unsure. She was so fragile at times; she made him feel like a hero.

He leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips, reading the invitation in her gaze. He ought to ask her how her classes were going so far, whether she liked any of her teachers, whether she liked Bayville High. Any number of things to show her that he was interested in her feelings, that he wasn't just constantly trying to get her alone so that he could get his hands on her. 

But he couldn't help himself, and when he felt the touch of her soft lips against his, he deepened the kiss. Touching the crease of her lips with his tongue until she opened her mouth for him, welcoming him.

He brought his hand up to cradle her face, to hold her to him as he kissed her passionately. Tasting her, exploring her mouth, he couldn't get enough of kissing her he was discovering. Every day he was learning something new about his mysterious little water mutant. The more time he spent with her - the more she began to trust him, the layers of her shyness and reticence peeling away like an onion - the more he wanted to know about her.

She moaned softly into his kiss, and he nearly lost it, his body responding to her, as he got uncomfortably aroused. Thank god his khaki's were baggy. He pulled back from her face with a ragged breath – wondering if they could disappear under the bleachers for a while – when he remembered where they were. Semi-public was no place for the kind of tongue tangling kiss they'd just shared. His preferred place would be anywhere he could get her horizontal for it.

"Bobby…" she sighed, leaning her torso into his hand as he held her to him, and he realized the heel of his palm was skimming the gentle swell of the outside of her breast and his body throbbed. He supposed it was a good thing that he was intensely – and that was putting it mildly – attracted to his girlfriend. More than he'd ever been with any girl before, but at the same time it was a little overwhelming with all the associated implications. He didn't need another Jubilee on his hands.

He yanked his hand away like he'd been scalded as he remembered how Jubilee had gone from casual pseudo girlfriend, to psycho possessive stalker on him once they'd had sex. Darcy looked mildly hurt, like he was rejecting her and he put his shaking hand on her shoulder.

"I don't want anyone to see us," he explained. Her eyes widened and the hurt look intensified.

"Are you ashamed of me or something?" she asked him sharply. Bobby panicked a moment, Jubilee flashbacks overlaying Darcy's beautiful face, before he snapped to. Darcy wasn't Jubilee, they had completely different personalities, Darcy was far more sensitive than Jubes, and he could see how she might misunderstand him.

"Of course not. You're my girlfriend - I love kissing you. I just don't want to put on a display for anybody walking by – we should keep that kind of thing private, don't you think?" Bobby asked her. Darcy still looked wary.

"It was just a kiss," she said softly, lowering her eyes. Bobby leaned toward her again, pressing his lips against the wispy hair at her temples, the bright electric blue strand of her hair soft against his mouth.

"It's more than a kiss when you get me this hard," he whispered in her ear. Her face turned as bright as a cherry and her mouth fell open.

"Bobby!" she gasped. His Innocent again. He grinned, the urge to tease her overwhelming him.

"It's true, if you want proof we can go under the bleachers…" he taunted her. He didn't think she could get redder, but she did.

"Bobby!" she squealed again. He looped his arm over her shoulders, keeping his mouth near her ear. He'd teased her just to see what her response would be, but he didn't expect that her squirming and blushing would inflame his imagination so much.

"Is that a yes, or a no?" he purred in her ear, letting his breath trail over the shell shape until she shuddered. He was definitely intrigued by how responsive she was to him, and he had to squelch that train of thought or he'd never get rid of his boner.

The first bell rang and he groaned silently, he was starting to give serious consideration to ditching fourth period to make out with his girl under the bleachers, but that sort of thing just wouldn't do…not on the first day anyway.

"Saved by the bell," Darcy laughed shakily.

"You got a reprieve, that's all," Bobby joked and took her hand. Tugging her up after him to head back toward the classrooms. He put his arm around her shoulders again as they crossed the field, needing to touch her, even though it made it harder to calm his body down. He took deep breaths, lowering his body temperature in an effort to reduce his swelling.

"Are you going to be able to…um…you know…function?" Darcy asked him shyly. Bobby blinked.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You know, because of your…uh…problem…" she said helplessly.

"You mean the massive throbbing erection that you gave me with your hot kisses?" he said dramatically. She blushed even harder. "Is that the problem to which you are referring? My chub? My boner? My wood?" he kept teasing. Loving how flustered and embarrassed she got.

"Bobby, stop!" 

"Stop what? Stop talking about my stiffy?" he grinned.

"Yes please," she said primly. Bobby shrugged good-naturedly.

"Fine. But you brought it up," he said, resisting the urge to hoot at his excellent double entendre.

"I did not!" Darcy was indignant. Bobby hugged her with one arm. He adored the paradox that was her, soft, prickly, shy, brazen, sexy, innocent…

"Oh, yeah you did. You definitely put the lead in the pencil."

"Bobby!" she hissed, as they were getting closer to the main building and there were more students around. "Can we stop talking about it?"

He looked innocent. "Stop talking about what? What were we talking about?" he baited her, and she walked right into it. They stopped at her locker for her to get her notebook and she hid her face behind the door.

"We were talking about your…you know," she wimped out. He held the locker door and propped his other hand against the locker next to Darcy's, trapping her between his body and the lockers.

"Say it, come on…I know you can do it." He cajoled.

"We're going to be late," she evaded, slipping out from under his arm. He shut her locker for her and started after her toward class. His locker was around the corner from their fourth period History class, and he was pleased to see that she followed him to it, rather than going into the classroom alone. The halls were nearly empty; the second bell about to ring, but time was slowing down for Bobby. He didn't want this moment - this teasing and sexual innuendo – to go. 

She leaned against the locker next to his, her arms crossed over the thick History book they'd been issued, and he wondered how she could make a dull subject like that look sexy as she looked at him thoughtfully.

"Still wondering what's going on in my pants? Cause say the word and we're out of here," he teased her, half seriously. 

"Bobby," she whined, half exasperated. He leaned forward and stole a quick kiss, letting her off the hook.

"Well, well, well…what have we here?" 

Bobby pulled back from Darcy and looked over her head to see Kevin Donaldson and two of his buddies standing there. He groaned silently. Day one of school and Donaldson was already going to start hassling him again. It was like the summer hadn't even happened, Kevin just picking up where he'd left off last year.

Darcy looked over her shoulder at Kevin briefly and then back at Bobby questioningly, taking her cues from him. Bobby just ignored Kevin and his friends and took his History book out of his locker and closed it.

"Come on, we don't want to be late," Bobby told Darcy. Putting his hand on her back to guide her past the wall of idiots that blocked their way. 

"Where do you think you're going, mutie?" One of Kevin's buddies said. Blocking their way.

Kevin took Darcy's elbow, pulling her over to his side and away from Bobby. "Oh, babe, trust me. You don't want to be seen with a mutie unless you want to get a bad rep at this school." Kevin said. Darcy yanked her arm back.

"Worse than the rep I'll get for being one?" Darcy snapped, retreating to Bobby's side. Kevin looked at his hand like he'd touched something dirty, the disgust on his face clear. "Don't worry, last time I checked it wasn't catching," Darcy said sarcastically. The second bell rang, making them late for class, but Kevin and his cronies showed no sign of moving out of their way. 

"What a waste," Kevin said, looking Darcy over regretfully. "You're a real hottie, too."

"Yeah," Kevin's other friend said, eyeing Darcy's ass appreciatively. "So, hottie…what're your powers?" he taunted. Darcy glared at him and said nothing, but Bobby could almost sense her agitation as it grew.

Bobby put himself between his girlfriend and the jocks in front of them. He wasn't as tall as Kevin or his friends – only 5'8" or so – but he wasn't the least bit intimidated. He was an X-man after all, which he had to keep reminding himself, stifling the urge to plant his fist in Kevin's nose once and for all. The Professor expected his students to be above the narrow minded jerks that made their lives miserable everyday, but just for once Bobby would love to sink to their level.

"If you're through ogling my girlfriend, Donaldson, we'd like to get to class." Bobby said coldly, and started forward. But Kevin shoved him back.

"No, we aren't done here, Drake," Kevin said, poking Bobby in the chest. "And we aren't gonna be done here until every single one of you freaks is gone from this school."

Bobby looked disgusted and knocked Kevin's arm away. "Don't you ever get tired of being an idiot?" Bobby scoffed. He could feel Darcy at his back, her fingers curling in the back of his t-shirt tightly.

"The mutie is calling _me_ names, that's rich. Trying to be brave for your little mutie girlfriend?" Kevin goaded, and shoved Bobby again, knocking him into Darcy, and sending his History book flying. Darcy, who'd been watching what the others were doing was caught off guard and she slammed back into the lockers, the combination lock digging into her shoulder painfully and she dropped her books with a small cry.

Bobby bared his teeth, trying to keep his temper under control as he turned and saw to his girlfriend. Her eyes were wide and they shifted wildly between Bobby and their tormentors as she held her shoulder with one hand. Seeing her this upset and afraid made him furious. He'd endured two years of this bullshit from Donaldson and his friends, letting them try and provoke him into a confrontation.

Continually, he'd had to keep his eyes on his prize, being an X-man, being one of the team. Living up to the Professor's expectations to not lower himself to the common denominator. But this – what they were doing to Darcy – this was the first time he'd ever thought the Professor's policy of non-aggression might be wrong.

"That's right, Drake. Come on… Show me what you're made of at last. Go ahead and use your powers on me, I'll have you gone so fast it won't even register," Kevin jeered as Bobby faced him, his hands fisted at his sides.

"I don't need powers to kick your ass, Donaldson. Haven't you figured that out yet?" Bobby said in a low voice. Kevin put his hands on his hips and laughed loudly, his assumptions based on Bobby's size being his undoing.

"Please, like you could kick my ass anywhere, Drake," Kevin dismissed. And a second later found himself flat on his back in the middle of the hall, the motion of Bobby sweeping his legs out from underneath him happening so fast the taller boy didn't even have time to register the move, never mind evade it.

Bobby stood over the prone jock, his eyes cold. "I've had just about enough of you and your narrow minded, bigoted bullshit. It stops now. Or the next time we do this, I'll bruise more than your pride. We clear?" Bobby said in clipped tones.

Kevin slowly got to his feet, his eyes narrowed in hatred. "Oh we're perfectly clear, freak. So why don't we get this over with _now!_" Kevin punctuated the last word with a punch he aimed directly at Bobby's face. Bobby dodged to the right deftly, letting Kevin's knuckles connect painfully with the metal locker behind.

"Stop it!" Darcy shrieked suddenly, and the water fountain at the end of the row of lockers next to Bobby seemed to just…explode. A jet of water shot from the broken mouthpiece to spray Kevin directly in the face. He brought his arms up to ward off the stinging spray as he backed away from Bobby and the drinking fountain.

"Darcy, no!" Bobby yelled, turning to his girlfriend.

The water spray divided, fanning out to include Kevin's friends as they charged to avenge their friend. The strength of the streams was like a fire hose, pinning the trio to the opposite wall as they yelled and tried to block the stinging water. 

Bobby ignored them, as well as the sounds of teachers in the nearby classrooms as they came to their doors to see what the commotion was about. He was surprised no one had intervened earlier, but then again, the faculty shared no great love of mutants either. He faced Darcy and put his hands on her shoulders, making her look at him. Her eyes had gone liquid, a clear pupiless silvery color as she looked through him, her focus on controlling the water.

"Darcy, you have to stop. Stop right now, we can't use our powers here! Darcy please!" Bobby whispered desperately, shaking her gently.

The water ceased as suddenly as it had begun, and Darcy blinked, her eyes returning to normal a moment before they darkened, stormy with emotions and glossy with tears. "Bobby…" she whimpered quietly.

"That's it, freaks! Just wait until Principal Dillard hears about this! I'll see every single one of you kicked out! You fucked up bad this time, Drake…" Kevin sputtered, wiping the water out of his eyes. He and his soaked to the bone buddies sloshing off toward the Principal's office.

Darcy gave a choked little sob, and Bobby drew her into his arms and closed his eyes. Kevin was right, he'd fucked up. He should have just walked away. He should have made it more clear to Darcy that they couldn't – under any circumstances short of life threatening ones – use their powers outside of the Institute grounds. Darcy was his responsibility, besides being his girlfriend, she was his student, and he'd failed her.

The screech of the school's intercom was no surprise as a voice barked. "Robert Drake and Darcy Harper. I want the two of you in my office, _now!_" 

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so, sorry…I didn't mean to. I…I couldn't control it…" Darcy was crying into his shoulder. Bobby kissed Darcy's temple as he held her shaking form in his arms. The water in the hallway soaking into his shoes, and he could feel Darcy's dropped and now waterlogged History book bumping against his foot. He knew there was going to be hell to pay when the Professor heard about this little incident. Hopefully, he had enough clout to keep them from being expelled, and Bobby held his girlfriend tighter for a moment.

"I know," he said softly.

***

Next Chapter: Facing the music…

AN: Thanks to: Rurouni Tyriel, Brandon B, Ashley, Namek Kaia, Raining Star, Camille, LuLu Ducky (cute name! ^_^), togepi4eva, and Arsenal (sorry the story isn't moving along fast enough for you. Hope you stick with it though…) for the reviews. I really appreciate you taking the time to give me feedback.

Until next time…keep those reviews coming, please! ^_^


	8. Running in place

Disclaimer: XME, no. Darcy Harper, yes.

**Melt Me**

Chapter Eight: Running in place

_***_

_Xavier Institute, later that day._

Hank McCoy waited in the foyer of the mansion, gazing out at the grounds as he waited for Logan, Ororo Munroe and the Professor to return from Bayville High. He was concerned; the fact that the Professor had received a call from Thomas Dillard, the school's principal on the very first day of classes didn't bode well for the new school year. 

"Any sign of them yet?" Rogue asked, joining Beast at the window. Hank shook his head.

"No. I'm starting to think it probably isn't going too well," he told her.

Rogue folded her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall next to the window to look out over the driveway with him. 

"What's goin' on anyway? Logan and Ah were training and he took off lahke there was a fire somewhere." Rogue told him.

"Trouble at the High School," Hank nodded. Rogue straightened and put a hand on her hip.

"Already? It's only tha first day!" Rogue exclaimed. 

The sparkle of sunlight off a windshield ended their conversation and they watched as the Professor's Rolls Royce made its way slowly up the driveway to stop in front of the mansion. The car had barely come to a stop when the door was flung open and Darcy flew out of the car like a bullet from a gun. 

"Oh no," Hank murmured under his breath. Watching as the dark haired girl ran up the steps to the front doors. She didn't even wait for Bobby or Storm as they exited the car more slowly. The front door of the mansion slammed open and before Hank or Rogue could even think of asking what had happened or if she was all right, Darcy was up the stairs and gone. 

So it was two very questioning looks that Bobby, Ororo, and the Professor were greeted with when the three entered a minute later. Bobby carried his backpack and Darcy's, and at first glance looked almost resigned. It wasn't until Hank got a good look at the Iceman's face that he saw just how angry and vaguely hurt the teen was.

"I'm gonna go see how she is," Bobby said in a flat tone, heading toward the stairs.

"Bobby," the Professor said, extending a hand toward him. "You did what you felt was best under the circumstances. You have nothing to feel guilty about."

Bobby stopped dead in his tracks, like he'd reached the end of his leash. "Guilty?" Bobby snapped, whipping around to face the Professor. "We got railroaded in there! And you let it happen!" Bobby said angrily.

"Bobby, I understand that you're upset about Principal Dillard's decision. But you have to understand that—" the Professor got out before Bobby cut him off.

"I don't have to understand anything! Especially why we're constantly having our hands tied." Bobby lowered his eyes from Xavier's and his shoulders slumped. "I just don't want to talk about it anymore right now, Professor. I'm sorry." Bobby said and headed up the stairs slowly to his room.

Xavier watched him go and he sighed heavily, before steering his wheelchair toward his office. Rogue, Beast, and Storm followed, the first two curious about the events that would make good-natured Bobby Drake behave in such an openly disrespectful way to the Professor. Bobby, although unorthodox and frequently irreverent, was one of the Professor's most loyal and unwavering X-men.

"I take it that things were not able to be smoothed over?" Hank asked, once they were behind the closed doors of Xavier's office. The Professor studied his blotter for a long moment before answering.

"The results were not as I might have hoped, but the situation was…salvaged." Xavier said enigmatically.

"What's goin' on?" Rogue asked, tired of all the double talk. Xavier folded his hands on his desk, his expression weary.

"There was an incident at school today. Three students provoked Bobby and Darcy. While the other students started the fight, Darcy used her powers on school grounds." Xavier said heavily.

"Well so what? Sounds to me lahke they got what they deserved," Rogue stated. The Professor nodded.

"Normally, I would agree with you, Rogue. But things at Bayville High aren't the same as when you attended. While Principal Dillard is not as bad as Kelly was when he was Principal, he has no love for mutants either. It took a lot of convincing to keep him from expelling them."

Rogue leaned forward in her chair, gesturing wildly. "For what? Because some bullies attacked them and they defended themselves? Ah always thought you told us that was tha time we could use our powers!" Rogue said hotly, defending her teammate.

"It's not so simple anymore, Rogue. Remember Mayor Kelly's Law," Ororo said quietly. Rogue folded her arms and huffed, blowing one of the white streaks of hair out of her face.

"That stupid thing? Ah think it's bound to fail," Rogue complained.

"Unfortunately, it passed. The City Council voted it in today with a majority. It is now illegal for a mutant to use their powers in a public place," Xavier said. Rogue shot to her feet.

"They can't do that!" she cried, aghast.

"Well, they did," Logan said. Joining them after parking the Professor's car in the garage. "And that weasel Dillard kept those kids, and us, outside his office waiting until it did too." Logan growled.

"What did they decide, Charles?" Hank asked. Xavier rubbed his temples.

"I was able to keep formal charges from being pressed against Darcy. And none of the students will be expelled, but that was all I could get him to agree to," the Professor said.

"So how bad is it?" Hank asked, concerned. "Detention? Community service?"

"Suspension," Xavier said quietly. "One week for Bobby. Two weeks for Darcy."

"That's outrageous!" Rogue yelled.

"It seems excessive, especially at the beginning of the term. How are they expecting Darcy to keep up?" Hank questioned.

"That's just it, they don't," Logan said. "It was a shitty deal those kids got, Chuck."

"I know it, Logan…but what was the alternative? Expulsion? Having one of our students arrested?" Xavier countered. Logan held up a hand.

"I ain't sayin' you didn't do your best, Chuck," Logan said. "I'm sayin' that it sets a bad precedent if we get smacked down that hard first thing out of the gate. Not to mention this bullshit law making it even harder for us to do our jobs," Logan growled.

"It's a definite setback, but it means that the X-men have to be even more vigilant and circumspect in our actions," Xavier told them. Rogue's chin jutted stubbornly as she folded her arms over her chest again.

"Lahke things weren't tough enough already," she grumbled. Hank, the only one to overhear Rogue's complaint, dipped his heavy blue head slightly in agreement.

"Indeed."

She couldn't take it.

The silence of the deserted dormitory floor – all the students still at school – just made the whirling chaos inside of her swell to gigantic proportions. Her skin sizzled with shame and fear. She'd gotten suspended from school, she'd never even been sent to detention before this. What would her father say if he could see how far she had fallen?

"Shut up, shut up…" she whispered to herself. It was the Reverend's fault all of this had happened to her. _All his fault._ She dug the heels of her palms into her eyes as the scalding hot tears that hadn't really stopped since she'd lost control in the hall earlier, rolled down her red and splotchy cheeks. 

In the past whenever her thoughts had even started to turn to her past - or any other subject that caused her pain and suffering – Darcy had always managed to keep her volatile emotions under control by doing something else, distracting herself. Whether it had been surfing with Alex, taking a shower, or walking the waves, she'd always been able to push those thoughts and feelings away, burying them deep inside herself. Denying they existed. But now, it was like she couldn't stop them.

Moaning, she curled into a fetal ball on her bed, covering her face with her hands as she sobbed, she was so close to hysteria that nearly no sound escaped her lips. She just convulsed silently. It was too big, her powers wanting to be let free, that it took all of her will to just keep breathing as she gasped for air between wracking sobs.

This was stupid, she tried telling herself, she'd only gotten suspended; there was no need for her to lose it like she was. But on a subliminal level she suspected that this was the end result of not ever facing up to her true feelings about being a mutant, and the changes in her life that came with it. She'd been running in place emotionally, even as she'd been running away.

She felt the surge of power within her, the part of her that wanted to flatten Bayville and its hornet's nest of hateful bigots to the ground with one huge and devastatingly beautiful wave. She clasped her hands to her chest immediately, praying for forgiveness for even thinking such a thing. Being raised in a small community, the daughter of a Baptist minister, Darcy had always found a measure of peace in prayer. A connection between herself and the divine that let her believe that her life had purpose, even when her father constantly favored her younger brother over her. Despite everything she'd done to please him.

Her faith had been shaken to its very foundations when her powers had manifested. The Reverend - who although strict and a bit standoffish to her, was still her father and supposed to love her - had renounced her as an abomination. She could still see the Reverend's face as he'd said that she was dead to him.

Her family didn't want her. She'd felt like a tolerated burden at the Masters' house despite Alex's assurances that she wasn't. She'd come to the Institute to be with others like her and to learn some desperately needed control, and she'd failed at that miserably. Not only getting herself into trouble, but Bobby too. And he'd done nothing to deserve it. 

Curling into an even tighter ball, Darcy wondered miserably where she would go when the Professor kicked her out. She couldn't go back to Alex and admit that she'd failed. It was what had stopped her from immediately going to Scott's room and demanding that he let her talk to Alex on his laptop. How could she tell him what had happened without sounding foolish?

And Bobby…how could she face him again? Knowing that she'd gotten him a punishment that he didn't deserve? Fresh hot tears slid down her face, she needed Bobby, more than she cared to admit. He grounded her somehow. His teasing and his easygoing nature helped keep her demons at bay. Nothing seemed as horrible when she was with Bobby.

Darcy's head pounded, and her eyes burned as she kept crying. Giving in to the grief and self-pity at last. She had oceans of tears inside of her it seemed, all pressing to get out. She needed to calm down, she knew it, but she couldn't. Everything had taken on epic proportions, there was no middle ground anymore, and she was being crushed under her unstable emotions, like she was at the bottom of the sea.

Still gasping between sobs like a fish out of water, she slowly made her way off her bed and over to the window. Opening it so she could hear the sounds of the bay. She needed the water to center herself, recognizing the irony that her power she constantly sought to deny, also had the ability to soothe her. Her hands gripped the window frame tightly as her ears strained to hear the waves breaking on the rocks, or the waterfall that hid the entrance to the X-jet's hangar. Anything that would calm the raging tempest inside her. It was starting to frighten her, the fact that she couldn't seem to calm down.

And then, like the answer to her prayers, Bobby was there at her side. He said nothing, just pushed the window all the way open to step onto the low sill. He gathered her up against his body and the next thing she knew they were sliding quickly down the ice skid Bobby formed to the ground. He half dragged, half carried her across the grounds to the swimming pool – the site of their daily lessons – before walking right into the shallow end of the pool with her in his arms.

The moment the water touched her it was like smothering a fire as all the rage, sorrow, and pain just melted away. Bobby still held her, waist deep in the water as she lay on the surface, his dark eyes concerned.

"You okay?" he asked softly. "You were starting to go all liquidy and weird on me."

Darcy blinked at him and sat up on the water's surface. "What happened?" she asked fuzzily. She looked down at herself to see that she had indeed transformed, but as she watched the transformation melted away and she was normal again. As normal as a mutant could get anyway.

"I was going to check on you, and see how you were doing, when all the water pipes on the second floor started creaking and groaning. When I went in your room I saw you trying to go out the window and you were kind of…half transformed. You had me worried," Bobby told her.

"How…_why _did you bring me here?" she asked, heat flushing her face that she'd worried him. Bobby half shrugged and looked away, a little embarrassed too. He didn't want to admit that he'd noticed she sought water like a kind of touchstone, that he found every little thing about her worthy of such notice.

"Seemed like the right thing to do…"

Darcy's eyes wanted to start leaking again that he was so sweet to her; even after the trouble she'd caused him. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand surreptitiously so Bobby wouldn't see, and in doing so she noticed that he was standing fully clothed, waist deep in the pool and her chagrin grew.

"Oh no," she moaned regretfully. "I got you soaked."

"Not as soaked as Donaldson and his idiot friends were," Bobby said with a grin. Darcy visibly winced at being reminded of her loss of control, and she opened her mouth like she would apologize, but he didn't let her. He didn't want her dwelling on what had just happened, there would be time enough for that later – like when Logan made their lives hell in the Danger Room for the next week. "Besides, I felt like a swim anyway," he told her. And to make his point he started backstroking lazily across the pool.

His shoes and wet clothes slowed him down, but the point was made as Darcy giggled weakly at him. Bobby tread water and his eyes took on a mischievous gleam as he watched her sitting high and dry on the pool's surface.

"Feel like joining me? Since you're already wet?" he asked innocently. Her eyes widened.

"I am?" she questioned, and predictably, fell into the pool like a brick once she was thinking about it. Bobby snorted with laughter as she came up looking remarkably like a drowned rat. "You did that on purpose," she accused. "I was dry."

Bobby looked innocent, as innocent as he could, considering. "Were you? My bad then." He ducked when Darcy splashed him, somewhat half-heartedly. 

"'You want my advice, pull down your pants and slide on the ice.'" Bobby quoted with a grin. 

Darcy slanted him a look as she waded towards the steps in the shallow end of the pool. "Where did you come up with that one?" she asked, plopping herself down on the pool's edge to pull off her soaked leather boots.

"Wish I could claim authorship of it, but it's from M*A*S*H. I've just adopted it as my own philosophy, kinda appropriate don't you think?" Bobby asked her. Darcy shrugged apathetically.

"Sure," she said listlessly. Bobby waded closer to her until he stood in hip deep water right in front of her in order to look up into her face. Her eyes wouldn't quite meet his as she unzipped her other boot.

"You know what it means, right?" he asked. She shrugged again. Bobby put his hands on her knees to stop her actions and make her look at him. "It means, don't let things get you down. Don't worry about what happened today…it wasn't your fault, Darcy."

"I got you suspended. You didn't even do anything wrong! I ruined everything…you must hate me," she finished miserably. Bobby pulled himself out of the water to sit at her side on the edge of the pool and he leaned toward her, resting his head against hers as they dripped together. She didn't move away, just kept staring at her lap.

"Hey, being suspended isn't all that bad. We get a whole extra week off together," he teased with a nudge of his elbow. "And trust me, nobody here hates you, least of all me. How could I hate anyone as gorgeous as you?" Bobby said playfully.

"But…" Darcy started, but Bobby put his arm around her slender shoulders pulling her in close to his side.

"Listen, everyone here has lost control once or twice. Jean once had a power surge that nearly tore down the mansion. Kurt and Toad broke every statue in the east wing. Sam smashed the Professor's favorite painting. Storm's nephew Evan once covered the whole community room in spikes, I could go on and on…" Bobby said comfortingly.

"Have you ever…you know…" Darcy trailed off and looked up at him. Her eyelashes were still spiky with tears, and she shivered a little despite the warm fall sun. Her wet clothes molding to her small breasts, which Bobby took great pains not to notice. 

"Had a power surge?" he finished for her. Darcy nodded. "Yeah, but not in a long time. It happened before I ever came to the Institute, when I was about fourteen," he told her solemnly.

"What happened?" she asked. Bobby shifted uncomfortably and glanced at his girlfriend. He'd rather not talk about it, since some of the memories of when his powers had gone haywire were alternately painful and embarrassing to recall, but he could tell by Darcy's expression that knowing would mean a lot to her.

"I had a time when I couldn't control what I froze, sometimes I'd touch something and it'd freeze, and sometimes it wouldn't. Like, I'd go and get a glass of water and freeze all the pipes in the house. Or end up taking an ice shower…stuff like that," Bobby told her. "For a while I was afraid to touch anything, I wouldn't go swimming in our pool, or play football with my little brother. I was even afraid to hug my mom..."

Darcy could tell that there was more to Bobby's story than just the inconvenience of frozen pipes or cold showers, but she waited for him to tell it in his own time. His dark eyes were distant as he looked out over the pool, watching the dissipating waves from their activity in it.

"You aren't afraid to touch me," Darcy said softly. Bobby didn't look at her, but he squeezed her gently in acknowledgement.

"I've learned to control it. Because I didn't want it controlling me, and it was. As long as I was afraid of what I could do, I wasn't in control." 

"How did you do it?" Darcy asked, eager to learn his secret. Bobby had the most control she'd ever seen, she knew how angry he'd been at those jerks at school, yet he'd remained in total control of his powers. Darcy envied him that.

"I started using them. Practicing controlling them. I looked at my powers as being a muscle that needed to be worked out to get stronger…and eventually, they did." Bobby said sadly.

"But…that's a good thing, right?" Darcy questioned gently, confused by his melancholy tone. Bobby's lips twisted ironically.

"The end result was good. I learned to control them at an earlier age than most. And using my powers allowed the Professor to find me and invite me to come to the Institute," Bobby agreed. "But using them meant that my family found out about them," he said.

"Did they flip out?" 

"I'd kept it from them when I first found out what I could do because I was afraid of what they'd say. But when I had my power surge it was kinda hard to hide them…" Bobby said evasively. Darcy reached out and laid her hand on Bobby's cheek, turning his face toward hers to make him look at her.

"Tell me what happened, Bobby. Please…I want to know," Darcy pleaded gently. 

"You have to understand, I don't just make ice. I project extreme cold; I'm like a fucking great big walking freezer. And everything around me, water, metal, even the air is just…ammunition. Our bodies are like 75% water, you know…" Bobby lowered his eyes, but Darcy didn't let go of his face, just leaned closer to press her forehead against his.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," she murmured. She hadn't realized how difficult it might have been for Bobby. She took his clowning and good nature for granted, never realizing there was more to Bobby than joking around.

"My little brother, Ronny…he found out about my powers first. He thought they were so cool. He always wanted me to make him slides and animals and stuff. Even my mom and dad, once they got over the shock of their kid being a mutant, thought it was pretty neat. I could make ice cubes on demand, refreeze that melty ice cream from the store…" Bobby chuckled. "But it only takes one mistake to change all that."

"Mistake?" Darcy asked. "What did you do?" Bobby hesitated.

"It was a total accident. Ronny and I were out in the yard goofing around with the dog, Ronny kept wanting me to make bigger and bigger slides and stuff and I was showing off for him, and Pepper was there…and he jumped _right_ in the way, I wasn't thinking and I just…froze him. And he fell and..." Bobby broke off. His mind replaying the sight of their black lab shattering on the ground, the sound of his little brother screaming, and he squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

Darcy bit her lip and brushed the hair out of Bobby's eyes. "You didn't do it on purpose, Bobby…" she said softly. 

"But I killed him just the same. And it doesn't change the fact that every time my folks look at me now it's like they're a little bit afraid. And Ronny…I don't think he'll ever forgive me for what happened to Pepper."

Darcy wrapped her arms around Bobby, holding him close. It was on her mind to try and share with him all that she had endured at the hands of her family. That she understood how it felt to have your younger brother look at you with fear in his eyes. But Bobby's parents still accepted him, even if they were afraid. They still loved Bobby. No one loved her. He couldn't possibly understand what it meant to have the people you trusted the most turn their backs on you.

Bobby turned in her arms to embrace her back, the two of them almost clinging to each other as they sat wet on the edge of the pool, like they were survivors of some terrible apocalypse that only they could relate to. "I've never told anyone that before…about Pepper," Bobby said into her neck. 

"It stays between us, Bobby," Darcy promised. Bobby raised his head, his eyes a little red as they gazed back into hers. And she understood the importance, the reverence and trust of the confidence Bobby was sharing with her. She felt so close to him then. 

"I'm so glad I have you," she whispered, her heart in her eyes.

Bobby's lips found hers, cool against her burning skin as he kissed her deeply. No sweet sacred kiss to seal a pact, Bobby took her mouth hungrily. Like he'd been waiting forever to hear those words from her.

"Me too…"

In the Control Room of the Institute a three-foot high display screen normally cycled through the different security cameras that blanketed all areas of the Institute, inside and out. Now the monitor was filled with the image of Bobby and Darcy as they kissed at the edge of the pool.

The reflected light of the screen highlighted the angry tears that ran down Jubilee's cheeks as she watched her Bobby kiss that interloper.

She'd wandered down to the lower levels when she got home from school looking for Bobby, to sympathize with him for getting suspended. With any luck, he'd be furious at his precious little water mutant for getting him busted, and Jubilee wasn't above using that to her advantage. All being fair in love and war, after all. But instead, as she'd wandered past the control room, the monitor had cycled to the pool camera just as she passed, and she saw Bobby goofing around in the pool – swimming with his clothes on.

Intrigued as to what he was doing – and hoping he might shed some clothes to do it – Jubilee entered the control room and punched up the screen to remain on that camera and turned up the volume. She was pained to discover that rather than being angry with Darcy for getting him suspended, Bobby was actually trying to reassure her.

Jubilee fisted her hands at her sides, her perfectly manicured nails digging painfully into her palms. It wasn't fair, what did that blue haired, freaky eyed witch have that she, Jubilee - arguably one of the best looking girls at the Institute - didn't? Other than Bobby's heart?

Tears streamed unchecked from her eyes as Bobby confessed to Darcy about how he had inadvertently killed the family dog. A part of her felt just awful for Bobby, because of the two years they had been such good friends, her heart ached for him. But the obsessed part of her could only feel pain and bitterness that the person he was confiding his darkest secret to wasn't her.

_It should have been her._

As Jubilee watched the monitor in the dark stillness of the control room, Bobby helped his girlfriend to her feet, before leaning in to tenderly kiss her. He made Darcy hold her hands out in front of her and close her eyes, and as Jubilee watched, Bobby laid his hands over her cupped ones. A sparkling blue white glow grew between them, and when Bobby took his hands away a small perfect ice sculpture lay in Darcy's upturned palms. A pair of swans with their necks entwined, perfectly rendered in shining ice. Jubilee ground her teeth, remembering the ballerina Bobby had made for her so long ago.

Darcy smiled widely at the gift, and looked up at Bobby adoringly. "You always make everything seem better," she said to him.

Bobby took Darcy's face between his palms, brushing her hair back off her face as he returned the smile. "That's what I'm here for," he told her, and then kissed her again.

With an inarticulate screech of rage, Jubilee lost her temper at last. Snapping the monitor off the infuriating image, she stomped out of the control room and in a fit of pique, kicked the corridor wall, pretending it had dark hair with a blue stripe and _Village of the Damned_ eyes. Which then prompted a real howl of pain, because in a battle between stylish sandals and a metal wall…

The wall always wins. Just more fuel for Jubilee's fire.

_Xavier Institute Grounds, morning, three days later._

The morning sun had just crested the trees, and the dew still blanketed the grass as the students gathered outside the mansion for their morning exercise. Standing in a rough half circle as they faced the core of the X-men: Wolverine, Rogue, Beast, Nightcrawler, and the Iceman. Behind them on a balcony overlooking the estate, Cyclops and Storm stood beside the Professor, looking on as Wolverine explained the rules. Jean and Shadowcat being excused because of their college courses.

"All right, listen up! Here's how we're doing this. You'll be broken up into three teams, all made up of different experience and skill levels. The goal of this exercise is simple, capture the flag from Rogue and bring it back here before your team gets tagged out. Keep it nice and friendly and within the grounds. Mansion is off limits. Any harmful use of powers answers to me, any questions?" Wolverine barked. Cannonball raised a hand.

"How do you get 'tagged out'?" Cannonball asked. Iceman grinned and thumbed his chest.

"That's if one of _us_ catches you first," he explained, indicating the other X-men present. A chorus of groans greeted his statement, along with the vocal sentiment that Iceman should be on the side of his classmates, rather than the core team. Not to mention the consensus opinion that Nightcrawler being included as 'tagger' defeated the purpose of the soon to be 'tagees'.

"People, people…settle," Beast told them. "The teams are as follows; Team one: Magma, Sunspot, Leech, and Boom-Boom." He paused as Amara and Roberto did a little victory cheer for getting Leech on their team. Tabby just looked bored.

"Team two: Cannonball, Berzerker, and Husk."

"Yeah! Go Team Guthrie!" Husk cried, jumping in the air to high-five her much taller sibling.

"Ahem!" Berzerker said pointedly. Husk looped her arm with his and then grabbed her brother's.

"You're an honorary Guthrie," Husk informed him blithely.

"Lahke there weren't enough of them already without adding to tha population," Rogue mumbled under her breath and folded her arms. Nightcrawler, the only one to hear his adopted sister's comment stifled a grin.

"Team three," Beast continued patiently, "Multiple, Wolfsbane, Torrent, and Jubilee." 

Iceman cringed to hear that his new girlfriend was going to be on the same team as his last girlfriend, and he made a mental note to steer clear of team three. He glanced over at Torrent to see how she was taking her team assignment and saw she didn't look thrilled at all, in fact she looked like she was about to go face a firing squad as she hung back from her group, and he went over to join her.

"Everything okay?" he asked quietly, trying not to show her any undue favoritism.

"No," she whispered miserably. "I suck at this stuff, you know that! How am I supposed to use my powers in the middle of the woods? I don't even know what I'm supposed to do!" she hissed fiercely, her eyes bright.

He stepped in front of her, putting his back to everyone else. "Listen," he said softly, "just do your best. Remember what we've been working on; stay calm and focused on the task at hand. Don't overthink it, don't get upset."

Torrent bit her lower lip, her eyes turning stormy as her emotions – fear of failing mostly – started to take over. "I-I can't…" she whimpered almost inaudibly.

"Iceman! Let's get a move on!" Wolverine called, as he and the others headed into the woods to start the game. Iceman reached out and put a hand on Torrent's shoulder and squeezed briefly.

"You'll do fine, don't worry," he told her, and trotted off after his teammates without a backwards glance.

Torrent took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. She wished she shared his confidence, as she made her way over to her waiting team.

Professor Xavier steepled his fingers under his chin thoughtfully as he watched the brief interaction between Iceman and Torrent below. He could sense her agitation over the day's exercise and felt how she managed to get some of her emotions under control when Bobby spoke to her. Interesting. Especially since he'd noticed from the corner of his eye the way the water in the nearby fountain had started churning along with Darcy's agitation.

"Cyclops," Xavier said suddenly. "How is our new student progressing?"

"Torrent? Not as well as we might have hoped, Professor. She has adequate athletic ability; Beast reports that she's showing some improvement in agility. But Logan is dissatisfied with her performance in team situations in the Danger Room," Scott reported from memory.

"I would imagine so," Storm interjected, before turning her blue eyes back to the slender figure below that halfheartedly jogged after her team as they headed into the woods as a group to try and capture Rogue. "Logan's training is not ideal for a mutant with her abilities. It is probably very frustrating for her," Storm said. 

"Storm is right," Xavier said. "I think it might be a good idea if we set up an exercise that is more catered to Torrent's abilities for a change, rather than the others. It might bolster her confidence," he suggested. "What about her instruction with Iceman?" Xavier inquired, even though he already suspected the answer.

"He's the only one making progress with her," Cyclops said. "But for god's sake don't tell him, or we'll never hear the end of it."

The Professor smiled indulgently and said nothing. It seemed that Scott had not yet been able to look past some of Bobby's earlier immaturity to see the capable team member he had become. While Xavier felt that Bobby should be encouraged in his successes, he also didn't want to force the issue with Scott, who took the role of leader too seriously sometimes. Making Bobby his perfect foil. 

The three teams headed into the woods from different angles, all with different strategies, but the same goal. Get the flag from Rogue.

Team One had the definite advantage with Leech on their side, and with Magma and Sunspot in the lead, they charged boldly into the woods intending to run Rogue down and flush her out, no matter who got in their way. 

Fifty or sixty yards ahead, Iceman waited for them in a tree. He smirked as he watched Sunspot use brute force - rather than finesse – to cut a path through the woods. They weren't even heading in the right direction to find Rogue, whom he'd seen heading toward the gazebo before he'd split off to set up an ambush.

Right as Magma and Sunspot ran past his hiding place, Iceman froze the ground below and in front of them, sending them sliding down the slight incline and away from their vulnerable secret weapon.

Jumping down out of the tree, Iceman froze Boom-Boom and Leech's feet to the ground before he stepped up to the Junior High schooler and tapped him on the head.

"Leech is out of the game!" he called out, and then tapped his comlink on. "Nightcrawler, I have one for removal," Iceman said, grinning at Boom-Boom. Taking the hint, she used a couple of her charges to free her feet from the ice and she ran off down the hill toward where Magma and Sunspot were just getting back to their feet.

With a _bamf_ to announce his arrival, Nightcrawler quickly appeared, put his arms around Leech and then teleported away, removing Leech from the field. Iceman turned toward the rest of Team One and rubbed his iced up hands together, an evil grin on his handsome face.

"Okay…who's next?" he asked jovially. Causing the remaining three to scatter.

Swinging silently from tree to tree, Beast stealthily stalked Team Two. They were at a distinct disadvantage in this exercise, having only three members to the other teams four. But in Beast's opinion Husk's enthusiasm and determination more than made up for their lack of numbers.

He hung upside down from a high branch, deciding which of the three he wanted to pick off, when they huddled together a moment, probably discussing their strategy. Beast hesitated, curious as to what they would do. Berzerker and Husk broke away from the huddle suddenly and trotted off into the woods in two separate directions, leaving Cannonball behind.

Interesting, Beast thought, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He wondered what Team Two was up to that they would split up in the middle of an exercise. Beast would think that they would want to stick together since there were only three of them.

Cannonball wandered around the small clearing, studying the ground like he was looking for some indication that Rogue had passed that way. Beast grinned, exposing his impressive fangs. The boy was making it too easy. By splitting up they were making targets of themselves, they should have stayed together in order to find Rogue. 

Beast clucked his tongue quietly. It was a lesson they were about to learn the hard way as he swung into position to drop on Cannonball and tag him out of the exercise. He landed silently behind the tall blonde boy and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Better luck next time," Beast said. Suddenly, a high-pitched shriek came from the bushes behind him, and before Beast could react he was broadsided by what felt like a tiny mountain.

He went down like sack of bricks, whatever hitting him landing squarely on top of him in a classic quarterback sack. The impact sent Cannonball careening around the woods, bouncing off the trees like a pinball before he too landed in the pile on top of Beast, knocking the air out of the X-man with a whoosh.

Beast groaned and opened his eyes to a perfect little granite statue of Husk sitting on his chest. A living, breathing statue that looked insufferably pleased with herself as she grinned at him from ear to ear.

"Ha! You're out! We got you good!" Cannonball's metamorphing little sister told him.

Correction, Cannonball's very _clever_ metamorphing little sister. Who had gotten the drop on him like a sucker, using her brother as bait, so she could transform into rock and take him down. Very clever indeed.

"You're not supposed to tag _me_ out. You're supposed to be trying to capture the flag from Rogue," Beast reminded them. Cannonball poked his head over Husk's shoulder and grinned at him.

"Nobody said it was against the rules to thin out the opposition," Cannonball said. Husk wagged her finger at Beast like a teacher.

"That's right," she agreed.

"You have a point. No one said you couldn't take one of us out of the game. Have to give you credit for that," Beast told them. Sitting up once Cannonball and his now incredibly dense and heavy younger sibling had gotten off of him. He tapped his comlink on. "Nightcrawler, I have a removal," he said.

A second later Nightcrawler appeared in the clearing, an expectant smile on his fuzzy face. "Vell? _Wer ist meine_ victim?" he asked. Rubbing his hands together. Beast gave a crooked smile.

"Me," he told his teammate, thumbing his chest. Nightcrawler looked confused, in fact comically so.

"_Vas?_" he blurted. "_Sie scherzen!_" His surprise making his English – normally very good – fail him.

"I'm not kidding. These two tagged me out," Beast explained. Nightcrawler doubled over with laughter that the tables had been turned on Beast.

"Well, I ain't sticking around here all day while you guffaw like a lunatic," Husk said. Her sweet voice sounding gravelly as it passed through a granite throat. "I wanna find Rogue and win this thing!" she exclaimed confidently, bringing her fist down onto her opposite palm with a resounding boom.

"Come on, Sam!" Husk ordered. Starting to move off out of the clearing. Cannonball grinned at Beast and Nightcrawler before he went to follow his sister. He didn't get more than two steps before Beast brought him up short, picking him up by the scruff of his uniform.

"Where do you think _you're_ going?" Beast asked the boy with a toothy grin. "You guys tagged me, _after_ I got you."

Halfway across the clearing, Husk spun around with a gasp at Beast's pronouncement. He and Nightcrawler gave her identical smug smiles while her brother just shrugged helplessly.

"Bye-eee!" Nightcrawler sang out cheerfully before engaging the _bamf _express.

On the other side of the woods, between the mansion and the cliffs that edged the bay, Rogue ran through the trees at a fast clip, the red sash that circled her hips – the prize everyone sought – trailing out behind her. She could hear her own breathing, steady and deep as she ran, her heart rate elevated from the hard run.

Wolverine kept pace at her side, his eyes flicking from left to right as they made their way swiftly through the woods. _He_ wasn't even breathing hard yet.

A baying sort of howl came from the woods behind them, closing in. That same noise being what had flushed Rogue from her place near the gazebo and sent her into flight mode.

_Wolfsbane_.

Tracking her.

"Ah remember seein' this in a movie once. About ah jailbreak," Rogue panted as she pushed herself to keep up with Wolverine's increased pace. He lifted his nose and sniffed the air.

"Less talk, more running. They're getting closer," he said gruffly.

A crystalline crackling sound emerged on Rogue's left, and she glanced over to see Iceman on one of his skids, keeping pace with them. He grinned at her and gave her a thumbs up. "I've eliminated two from Team One so far," he told her happily. Wolverine glared.

"You want to give them a _bigger_ trail to follow, Frostbite? Use your damn head!" Logan growled.

Immediately, Iceman abandoned the skid, jumping down to run beside them. Rogue noticed that he kept the skid going for a bit, angling it off into the woods to try and throw their pursuers off the trail. Rogue smiled at him for being resourceful, but Logan just snorted and proceeded to ignore Iceman as he tagged along on the chase.

A quarter of a mile ahead, Multiple and Torrent waited in the bushes upstream from the waterfall that hid the entrance to the hangar. Letting Wolfsbane and Jubilee drive their quarry right into the trap they'd set.

Jubilee had immediately taken control of the group when they entered the woods, predicting that Team One would use Leech as their secret weapon, and that Husk might impersonate Rogue to throw off the other teams. She correctly pointed out that their team had the distinct advantage because of Wolfsbane's tracking abilities.

She outlined a plan that had their team splitting into two, Wolfsbane and Jubilee would track Rogue and drive her toward the place where the stream was widest, about an eighth of a mile upstream from the waterfall. According to the plan, Torrent would hold back the river to a low, easily crossed trickle, while many copies of Multiple waited on the other side in ambush. Once Rogue crossed the stream, Torrent would release the river, cutting off Rogue's retreat while Multiple overpowered Rogue to get the flag.

"That's an excellent plan!" Wolfsbane had immediately exclaimed. Multiple agreed, asking Jubilee when she'd gotten so clever. The Chinese girl just glared at him.

"Um," Torrent had offered hesitantly. "I'm not sure I can hold that much water back. I've never done anything like that before." She flinched as three sets of eyes fell on her, one green, one blue, and one calculating black that seemed to size her up and find her lacking.

"This _is_ the kind of thing that we're supposed to be being trained for," Jubilee said dryly, and then turned to Wolfsbane with a conspiratorial smile. "Guess we know what Bobby's been using _his_ training sessions for," Jubilee laughed. Torrent's face burned. "You go, girl!" Jubilee nudged Torrent with her elbow.

"That's not true! We do stuff…" Torrent tried explaining. Wolfsbane and Jubilee kept laughing, giving Darcy exaggerated 'suuuurrrres' and winking at her. "I mean, he's trying to get me to hold the shape of—" Jubilee didn't even let her finish, she just started waving her hands in Torrent's direction.

"Ah! Don't tell me! I don't even want to _know_ the end of _that_ sentence!" Jubilee shrieked with laughter. Torrent folded her arms over her chest angrily, not finding their lewd assumptions funny in the least. Even Multiple was laughing at her.

"Fine! I'll do it," Torrent said through gritted teeth. To say she couldn't made Iceman look bad as a teacher. And as much as she doubted her abilities, she didn't want to tarnish his image.

"No, no…that's all right. We can come up with another plan. I mean…this was the best one. But if you aren't comfortable with it, then by all means…. We are a team after all, and a team is only as strong as it's weakest member," Jubilee said sweetly. Torrent's face flushed hotly again. It was like that time in the restroom when she'd first talked to Jubilee, she had the feeling she was being very subtly insulted. Her poison was sugar-coated.

"I said I'd handle it," Torrent snapped. Wolfsbane and Multiple looked surprised at the new girl's outburst, but Jubilee just kept smiling at her.

"I don't doubt it," Jubilee replied.

Now, as she waited in the bushes with Multiple she was starting to have her doubts. She chewed her lip incessantly as she looked at the swift moving stream beside her, and she didn't have to look at Multiple to know those baby blue eyes were on her.

"Ok?" he whispered. Her eyebrows came down sharply.

"I said I was," she replied, harsher than she'd intended to. Multiple wasn't offended, just smiled at her boyishly. He was such a sweet kid.

Two sharp yips split the air, the sound carrying in the morning silence. Wolfsbane's signal that they were getting close, it was time for them to get into position. Multiple said nothing, just rose and waited for her. Torrent took a ragged breath and got to her feet, ready to try what she'd never attempted before.

First, she had to get Multiple to the other side. She took his arm, like he was elderly and needed her assistance to cross the street. She stared at the rushing water, it was moving much faster than she'd imagined, and she focused on making the surface tension hard enough to walk on. It would still be like stepping onto a swiftly moving walk, and the change of speed would be jolting, she just couldn't be sure that jolt wouldn't cause her to lose her hold on her powers. Plunging them into the icy cold river.

Multiple twisted his arm under her hand and gripped her fingers, holding her hand. "I believe in you," he told her earnestly.

"Just shut up," Torrent moaned, trying not to think about the fact she wasn't just dealing with her life, but Multiple's too. She could see Jamie grin out of the corner of her eye, he was worse than Bobby…nothing offended him. "I don't…I'm not sure how to do this…maybe I should go first…" Torrent said nervously.

Another baying howl came from the woods, much closer this time, and the dark haired teen squeezed her hand. "No time. Let's do it. I know you can…" Multiple said confidently.

Taking a deep breath, Torrent kind of hopped onto the swiftly moving river and she started moving away from Multiple immediately. She bared her teeth, willing the water on the surface to remain stationary. It slowed, and she took an experimental step back toward the bank and Multiple. 

He reached out his hands to take hers then and she grasped them tightly, anchoring herself to the bank by way of Jamie. She found her center and focused, just like Iceman had taught her. She saw her hands become translucent and then liquid as they held Multiple's. Power surged through her from her connection with the river, and she felt a little of her confidence return.

"Okay…step down carefully. I don't know how fast it'll be moving where you are," she said. Multiple tried stepping down awkwardly from the high bank, and ended up hopping like she had. Torrent had one terrifying moment when she thought she might lose him, his right leg falling through the surface to the knee as he started sliding away from her in a half circle before she yanked him closer.

"Oh man…got my boot wet," Multiple grumbled under his breath.

Torrent ignored him and she started picking her way carefully across the wide river. "Be careful…there's debris," she warned Multiple, as several large branches swept past in front of and underneath them.

"Whoa!" Multiple yelled suddenly, and Torrent felt his hand start to slip away from hers as a partially submerged log bobbed between them.

"Jamie!" she cried, spinning around and reaching out to get a better grip on him. Multiple lunged, trying to hang on to Torrent and her influence over the river as his feet started slipping out from underneath him.

He pinwheeled his free arm wildly as his feet went out from under him and he landed on his butt on the surface of the river, the impact making him multiply into five separate copies. 

Desperately, Torrent tried to maintain the surface tension as Multiple and his copies started sliding away from her down the river on their backs, like they were on a water slide. Frantically, she stumbled after him, their fingertips brushing as she was almost able to grab onto him.

"Torrent! Help!" he yelled, as the farthest away of his copies slid into the river, reaching the edge of Torrent's influence. She lunged, and almost sobbed with relief as her gloved hand closed around Multiple's wrist.

"I've got you, Jamie," she said, stopping them on the surface. She helped Multiple to his feet, her heart in her throat that she'd almost lost him. And they watched as the other copies bobbed and struggled against the current as they were swept toward the bend in the river where they had planned the ambush on Rogue. Torrent breathed a sigh of relief that she'd managed to grab Jamie before the river bend and the white water farther downstream.

"Darceeeeeeee!" she heard one of the copies wail, as he bobbed under the water again. Her eyes widened and she gasped as the Multiple who's hand she was holding faded away into nothing as the original Jamie Madrox was swept around the bend in the river and out of contact range.

"Oh my god! Jamie!" she screamed loudly and started running. Trying to get to Multiple before he reached the white water. A submerged rock tripped her and sent her sprawling, skidding and sliding on her front as she bounced along the surface of the rushing water. She had to get to Jamie, no matter what, and she picked herself up to keep going.

To somehow beat Multiple to the ten-story drop he was rushing helplessly toward.

***

AN: Sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger, but the chapter was getting on the huge side.

Thanks to: Rurouni Tyriel, Ashley, Mr. Badguy87, Camille, Mercurial1, LuluDucky, Teardropmess, Brandon, and Raining Star for reviewing. I appreciate you taking the time to let me know that you like the story.

Until next time, keep those reviews coming! ^_^


	9. Maelstrom

Disclaimer: XME, no. Darcy Harper, yes.

**Melt Me**

Chapter Nine: Maelstorm

***

_Grounds of the Xavier Institute, Bayville, NY._

Water went up his nose and down his throat as Multiple bounced helplessly in the washing machine motion of the river. His head broke the surface and he gulped air desperately, knowing he was about to go down again.

Nearby, two of his remaining copies thrashed and flailed as they tried swimming against the strong current to reach him. The rushing water roared in his ears, but he could still hear the sound of Torrent's frantic cries as she tried to catch up.

He glimpsed Rogue, Wolverine, and Iceman standing at the river's edge as he was swept by, and he opened his mouth to call for help only to get another mouthful of the chilly water as he was pulled under again.

On the riverbank, Wolverine took three running steps forward, intending to jump into the river after Multiple without regard for the danger. He pulled up short however when Iceman put his arm out, stopping the older man before he could dive into the fast moving water.

"I'm on it," Iceman said, already bridging out over the river to get ahead of Multiple before he reached the rocks near the top of the waterfall. Suddenly, a reddish brown streak burst from the trees behind Rogue and Wolfsbane leapt into the river to paddle furiously after Multiple and Iceman.

"What's happened?" Jubilee said breathlessly as she ran up to Rogue and Wolverine, watching wide-eyed as Torrent flashed by, running across the surface of the water like some kind of apparition.

Wolverine growled with annoyance and snapped his comlink on violently. "Elf! We need you here _now!_" he barked, already running down the riverbank to keep up with the pursuit.

Torrent watched helplessly as Jamie kept slipping farther and farther away from her. What good were her powers when she couldn't even get her teammate across a river? Frustration and impatience built in her; furious tears burning her eyes that she couldn't even do this _one thing_ right. 

She saw Wolfsbane, fearlessly paddling into danger to save Multiple without regard for her own safety. And Iceman, bridging out over the river as he tried to move into position to slow Jamie down by freezing a dam farther down river, but the force of the whitewater was too much, and it knocked the ice wall away like dominos.

Furious with herself, Torrent skidded to a halt and held her hands out, the sun sparkling off her liquid form as she narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth, letting herself become one with her element completely in that way that frightened her, the power rising up within her until it seemed to almost overwhelm her, and she felt as tossed and helpless as Multiple in the current.

"Stop," she whispered, her lips barely moving.

Downstream the current slowed and turned sluggish. Multiple, exhausted from his struggle to swim against the current and half drowned from his repeated trips under, bobbed to the surface. Wolfbane grabbed the collar of his uniform in her jaws and paddled toward a large flat-topped rock in the center of the river to rest, the hard swim after her lengthy run through the woods hunting Rogue tiring her, even in her wolf form.

Weakly, Multiple clung to the rock with one arm, his other hand curled in Wolfsbane's scruff so she wouldn't drift away as she paddled to keep her head above water. 

Torrent strained to hold so much water still, watching as Iceman and Nightcrawler finally reached Multiple and Wolfsbane in the center of the river. Everything they did seeming to take forever - like they were moving in slow motion. Nightcrawler vaulted gracefully off the end of Bobby's ice bridge into the momentarily calm water of the river and swam over to grab Jamie and Rahne, then bamfed them to safety.

From the top of his bridge, Iceman could see how his girlfriend was struggling to keep the wide river as still as she could, her teeth bared as she held her hands out before her. She was starting to slip, as the river inched her forward slowly, pulling her inexorably toward the top of the waterfall. If she held the river still much longer, she'd have no juice to save herself and maintain the surface tension long enough for her to get off the river before she went over the falls.

"Grab my hand!" he yelled to her, leaning down from his bridge to reach her as she slid toward him.

"I can't…let…it go…" she gritted out, the river surging faster for a moment before she was able to slow it down again.

Iceman didn't waste time to argue, he just flattened himself on his bridge and hung over the edge to grab his girlfriend by the arm as she slid beneath him, the roar of the nearby falls sounding louder in Iceman's ears the closer Torrent got to the edge.

The moment his ice covered hand closed around Torrent's fluid wrist, time almost seemed to stop and his worst fear came to life. Ice crystals radiated out from his hand and up Torrent's forearm like lace, almost like he was icing her up. Her eyes widened with pain and fear and she opened her mouth and screamed like a fire bell, the cold from his ice coating quick-freezing her transformed skin in the blink of an eye.

Horrified, he yanked his hand back with a ripping sound as he let her go before the cold he projected to keep himself iced up could damage her permanently. The river heaved forward like a racehorse out of the gate as Torrent cradled her wounded arm to her chest, no longer able to control the river's flow.

_"Kurt!" _Iceman shouted helplessly, watching as Torrent was swept away from him, her exhausted form slumping to the surface of the river as she moved farther away. He looked desperately over his shoulder for Nightcrawler, but it seemed that the teleporting mutant was still dealing with transporting Multiple to the Infirmary, since the blue furred mutant was nowhere in sight.

On her knees, Darcy closed her eyes as she clutched her injured wrist in her free hand, so she wouldn't see the rapidly approaching cliff edge. The pain in her arm so sharp and acute she could barely breathe, let alone think to save herself. She was liquid – mostly – the fall to the shallow waves below wouldn't kill her…probably. Just hurt like hell.

She sensed the edge coming and her body tensed, just as an arm like a steel band grabbed her around the waist, almost knocking the air out of her.

"I've got ya, kid," a gruff voice said in her ear. She opened her eyes to see she was nearly over the edge of the fall, looking straight down at the ten-story drop to the waves below. Terrified, she clutched the arm that held her – Wolverine's – as she swallowed hard. The call being a little too close for her comfort.

They reeled Torrent in, Husk in her granite form being the anchor as she held onto Berzerker, and he held Wolverine's belt as they'd made a chain to fish Torrent out of the current. 

Iceman couldn't bring himself to get too close, and he hung back as Wolverine carried a semi-conscious Torrent past toward the mansion. All he could see as she returned to normal being the raw and bleeding wound on her wrist from where he'd ripped her frozen skin and part of her uniform clean off. She looked around dazedly, murmuring that she didn't feel so well, and the remaining students followed Wolverine as they headed quickly through the woods. 

"It's not yer fault, ya didn't know that would happen if ya touched her," Rogue told him quietly, laying one of her gloved hands on his iced shoulder. But Iceman wasn't ready to be comforted and he shrugged her hand off silently as he walked away slowly, following the others back to the mansion.

***

_Later that day._

Darcy hated being sick, and she hated going to the doctor. So being ordered by Hank McCoy to stay in the infirmary bed "or else" wasn't really a big enough threat to keep her down for long. 

Once she heard Hank leave the infirmary - after checking on Jamie in the next room - Darcy was up and dressed in a flash, despite Hank telling her he wanted her to rest downstairs until at least dinnertime. She couldn't even stand it until lunchtime. She hesitated in the hallway outside the infirmary, afraid to pass the room with Jamie in it. She wasn't ready to face him yet, knowing it was her fault that he'd nearly drowned.

Before she'd left for school, Amara had told Darcy earlier that Jamie was asking for her, and that he wanted her to visit him later when she was allowed up. Her stomach had churned with dread then, just as it was now, and she backed silently away from the infirmary. She was going to have to face Jamie sooner or later, and she would have to pass by his sickbed if she wanted to go upstairs to her room, and she knew once up there she would have even more people to avoid: the Professor, Scott, Hank, Logan, Kurt …just to name a few. Before that she needed a little more time to sort things out herself first.

She glanced up at the infirmary clock as she passed back by, heading deeper into the underground compound under the mansion to find a place to be alone for a while. The clock read almost one in the afternoon, and Darcy couldn't help being a little hurt that Bobby hadn't yet come to see her.

She touched the heavy bandages that covered her left forearm and wrist, protecting the raw painful wound. Not even the mild painkiller that Hank had given her earlier eased the chafing pain every time she moved.

The sound of the elevator doors opening farther down the hall made her duck around the corner. She was hoping that it might be Bobby, coming to see her at last, but she heard the sound of Scott's voice and bootheels on the metal floor, which meant only one thing…Logan.

Darcy trotted swiftly down the corridor, cradling her injured arm to her chest to try and stop the throbbing her jostling caused it. She took a right – toward the hangar of the X-jet – and hoped she wasn't cornering herself, but sure enough, she heard the sound of their voices echoing down the hall after her as they headed toward the hangar too.

Two open doors faced each other at the dead end of the corridor, one the massive cavernous hangar that housed the state of the art SR-77 Blackbird, the sleek black jet that had brought her here. The other door was to the much smaller hangar where the XM Velocity helicopter and the flight simulators were kept.

Darcy dodged left, into the smaller hangar where the Velocity sat, like a dark and menacing dragonfly. She forgot that the helicopter took off and landed vertically through the large bay doors that opened on the tennis courts above, making the door she'd just come through her only means of exit.

Desperate, she climbed into the open door of the simulator, just as Logan and Scott passed by, heading into the hangar where the jet was. Darcy sagged with relief into one of the soft cushy seats. The simulator was dark and cool, only a few lights on the control board keeping it from being pitch black. A small noise alerted her to the fact that she wasn't alone, and she gasped shortly to see a figure sitting in one of the darkened seats toward the front.

She couldn't see them well, just a shadowy form, but somehow she knew who it was already. "Bobby?" she whispered questioningly.

"How's your arm?" he asked quietly, not even turning around to look at her as he sat with his knees pulled to his chest in the large seat. Slowly, Darcy felt her way up the short aisle of the simulator towards him. The scale of the sim's interior being almost as large as the actual X-jet - with fewer passenger seats of course - yet it still felt like a long way as she crept forward in the darkness, unsure of her boyfriend's mood.

"It's fine. It hardly hurts at all," she told him readily. Trying to keep her tone light. Bobby snorted softly.

"Liar," he scoffed miserably. His voice so low she almost didn't hear him.

"What are you doing in here?" Darcy asked instead, the hushed atmosphere of the darkened space, coupled with Bobby's closed body language making her unsure and somewhat timid. 

"Hiding," he said bluntly. She hoped that it wasn't from her.

Darcy reached his row and sat down in the seat next to Bobby, but his posture didn't change, he remained withdrawn into himself as he rested his chin on his knees. He wouldn't make eye contact with her and Darcy's brow creased with worry. Without thinking she reached out to him, intending to smooth the hair back that had fallen over his brow. "Bobby…" she murmured softly.

He saw her hand out of the corner of his eye and he recoiled from her violently. "Don't touch me!" he snapped. 

Darcy's wide eyes immediately began to fill with tears as she flinched away from the harshness in his voice. Visions of how her family had acted similarly toward her filling her mind. She fought the urge to flee, to go and hide from his rejection, and she stayed put only because of how much she cared for him. "Bobby…" she began again, her voice choked as she tried to force down the hurt.

"I don't want to hurt you again," Bobby said miserably, hiding his face from her as he looked away. Darcy let out a shaking breath that it was only concern for her that was making him act that way, not that he was angry with, or repulsed by her.

Ignoring everything in his demeanor that said to go away and leave him alone, Darcy slid out of her seat and stood. Slowly, like he would bolt if she made any sudden moves she inched closer until they were nearly touching. 

"You won't hurt me…you couldn't…" she whispered to him, sidling closer until the front of her body barely grazed his shins and forearms as he kept his arms wrapped around his legs.

Ever since she'd met him, he had been the one to reassure her, to make her feel welcomed and accepted. He'd made a terrifying life altering decision – coming to the Institute – bearable and not so intimidating. The least she could do for him was to give him the same support and friendship that he had given her.

She bent over and put her arms around him, hugging him awkwardly. He flinched when he felt her touching him, his shoulders tense and hunched, but when no disaster befell them he started to relax, the tension in his body melting away.

Slowly, he unwound from the tight ball he was curled in, lowering his legs so she stood between them and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, pressing his face against her middle. She held his head to her with one arm, her fingers curling in his thick soft hair.

"I'm sorry," Bobby whispered against her. "I'm so sorry I hurt you."

Darcy tipped his face up to look at her with her palm under his chin and smiled in the dim light, hoping he could see her. She rested the palm of her injured arm on his shoulder lightly, hoping he wouldn't guess how sore it was.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about, Bobby. We had no idea that would happen if we touched when we're…_different_…now we know. So we can avoid it ever happening again." Darcy told him. Bobby's eyes were helplessly drawn to the thick white bandages that covered his girlfriend's arm from palm to mid-forearm, and he felt a wave of self-loathing wash over him that he was the one who had done it to her.

"But…" he started. Wanting her to understand his fears, that he hadn't even been trying to project cold at all when the accident happened, that something about Darcy's liquid state had reacted immediately and violently to the ambient temperature he maintained when he was iced up. He wanted her to understand how very dangerous it was for them to be around each other when they were transformed – at least until Darcy learned to control her transformation – but he couldn't find the words right then as he looked up into her pale glowing eyes.

"Look," she told him softly. Taking his hand with her uninjured one and placing it on her midriff, on the stripe of skin between the loose drawstring sweatpants she wore and her tiny t-shirt. She was so warm, so soft; as he touched skin he'd never felt before on her body. "See?" she murmured, "nothing happened…"

"I wouldn't go that far," he said under his breath. He rested his hands on her waist, his thumbs slowly stroking the center of her belly on either side of her navel. Her breath caught, the mood between them shifting to one of intimacy so quickly she was unsure how it happened so fast.

"N-nothing bad, I meant," she clarified. Bobby stroked her skin gently, tracing the curve of her waist up under the edge of her t-shirt to the bottom of her ribcage, and then slowly and softly back down, over her sweats to her hips. There was nothing overtly improper about the caress; the intimacy came from the way Bobby gazed at her, his dark eyes seeming to look right through the dark blue 'x' emblazoned tee and sweats she wore to her bare skin. And it made her knees almost buckle in excitement.

Darcy started in surprise when Bobby slowly leaned closer to her and placed a soft kiss on the small strip of skin between her exposed navel and the edge of her sweatpants. Her heart was beating triple time as exhilaration coursed through her body. Alone, in the dark simulator with Bobby, no one knowing where they were – no one save any telepath who might be looking that was – she felt she ought to be afraid that things might go to far between them. Farther than she was ready to go that is, but nothing save the end of the world could make her move away from the perfection of Bobby's hands on her skin.

According to her father, she was hellbound anyway…she might as well enjoy the ride there.

She swayed toward him slightly, as his hands slid around to her lower back, pulling her closer to him until she had to rest her hands on his shoulders to keep her balance. She couldn't really see what he was doing in the darkness of the simulator, just the shadowy outline of his head, but she really didn't need to. She could feel his soft lips as he nuzzled at her midriff, dropping gentle kisses along his way.

Bobby pulled her down gently to sit crosswise in his lap. Her long legs dangling over the arm of the seat, and she slung her undamaged arm around his neck as she tipped her face up to receive his kiss eagerly, her whole being tingling with anticipation of feeling his soft lips on hers. There was something that happened whenever Bobby kissed her and put his arms around her, he was like a drug – addictive - and she couldn't seem to get enough. 

Their lips parted on a sigh as the kiss ended, and in what had become her habit, Darcy licked her lower lip unconsciously to enjoy every last bit of Bobby's taste. 

"You look so sexy when you do that," Bobby whispered to her, his breath on her cheek, and he could feel the heat of her blush radiating off her in waves. She ducked her head shyly, and Bobby trailed his cool fingers down her arm in a feather light caress, making her shiver against him. His fingers came to a jarring halt however, when he touched the heavy white bandages that covered her wound.

"Your poor arm." Bobby said softly, running the pads of his fingers over the gauze in the faintest caress. 

"It looks worse than it is, Mr. McCoy said if I hadn't been wearing my uniform that the damage could have been severe. This," she indicated, holding up her arm slightly, "won't even scar."

"That reminds me," Bobby said teasingly, squeezing the arm he had around her waist gently. "What are you doing up and out of the infirmary? Hank said you and Jamie would be in there all day, that you needed to recuperate."

Darcy shrugged slightly, not wanting to admit that she was avoiding Jamie, or that she was a horrid patient. "I don't like being cooped up," she said lamely. "Besides, I'm fine…it just hurts a little."

"Didn't they give you anything?"

"Just some high octane Tylenol. Mr. McCoy told me to keep an icepack on my arm too," Darcy said, catching her lower lip briefly with her teeth. Both that she was being so blatantly forward with Bobby, and that he'd catch her thinly veiled hint.

"Then why aren't you?" Bobby murmured in her ear, his voice a teasing seductive purr that told her he more than caught her drift. Darcy licked her lips nervously, seduction and sexual innuendo being uncharted territory for her. But she didn't want Bobby to think she was a prude, either.

"I-I…didn't want any old icepack," she stammered shyly, "I wanted…_you_." Her whole body flushed with mortification that she'd said something like that out loud. She waited for Bobby to laugh at her, or even take the comment as an invitation to jump her bones, which she wasn't sure she was ready for at all yet. But instead, Bobby just smiled at her and gently laid his iced hand on her bandaged wrist.

The effect was more or less the same as the coldpack that Hank had wrapped her arm in earlier, with the exception being that while Bobby's hand cooled and numbed her throbbing arm, being so close to him, his dark eyes gazing into hers from only inches away, caused her body to heat up in other places. And he seemed to know it too, as his expression grew intense; like it had that day on the bleachers when he'd told her what her kisses did to him. Her stomach flip-flopped that she might be having that same effect on him again.

"How's that?" he asked in a low voice, his fingers leaving her bandaged wrist to drift lightly up her bare arm, making her skin goose flesh and her nipples tighten. 

"Feels really nice," Darcy moaned softly, totally awash in sensation.

The honest and forthright way that she responded to his touches was like nothing Bobby had experienced before. The girls he'd dated – Jubilee in particular – had always remained somewhat reserved and coy with him, like they were holding something back, trying to keep an aura of mystery about them to string him along and keep him interested. He found Darcy's frank enjoyment of his company and attentions far more intoxicating and intriguing than Jubilee's tactic of playing hot and cold.

The colored lights of the simulator's controls highlighted Darcy's elegant, finely boned features beautifully. Her eyes were closed and her lips parted as she rested against his arm trustingly, her long silky hair covering his forearm as he held her to him and bent his head to hers. Tracing his tongue lightly over her lower lip in the most gentle of caresses. Cupping her face with his other hand he tipped her head back slowly, until she was completely open and vulnerable to him as he took his time kissing her. The world just falling away until they were the only two in it.

"Darcy…" he sighed, his breath like frost across hers as he stroked her high cheekbone lightly.

"More," she whispered without opening her eyes.

Unable to resist her alluring demand, Bobby carefully stroked down the slender column of her neck and over her collarbones, giving her every chance to stop him if this wasn't her intention, but she said nothing, just gave a contented purring hum as she arched her back subtly. Bobby held his breath as he filled his hand with the soft swell of her small breast, her nipple poking his palm through the fabric of her t-shirt, and she gave a short little gasp.

"Too much?" he asked, concerned. She swallowed nervously, and then shook her head slowly. Bobby didn't have to see her in the light to know that she was blushing, it was practically a given.

"N-no…I like it," she breathed. "Don't stop…"

That was all the permission and encouragement he needed to let his hands roam and explore her slight figure to his heart's content. She was sleek and lean under his hands, yet irresistibly soft in all the right places as he squeezed her gently. He felt like he could touch her forever and never get tired of it.

Darcy did a fair amount of exploring on her own, mostly with her mouth as she kissed and nuzzled at Bobby's ear and neck, her head tucked into the juncture of his shoulder as he held her. She slid the palm of her bandaged arm down the plane of his chest over his dark t-shirt, mapping out the sculpted - yet not bulging – muscles she found there. Bobby had the build of an athlete hiding under the loose shirts and khakis he usually wore; even his X-man uniform hid most of his impressive definition.

Her fingers lingered over his stomach as she traced the grooves of his abs lightly, and she smiled up at him. "Very nice," she teased. The corners of Bobby's eyes crinkled as he grinned devilishly at her.

"You show me yours, and I'll show you mine…" he purred at her softly. She blinked at him owlishly for a moment, suddenly hesitant about the speed at which things were progressing. She'd already allowed Bobby more liberties with her person than she'd allowed anyone before. He had touched her in places no other boy ever had.

"I…I'm not sure, I mean…I don't know how far…" Darcy stammered helplessly. Squirming uneasily in Bobby's lap. Bobby caught her hand gently, as she pulled it away from his stomach, and held it to his chest as he gazed deeply into her pale eyes.

"Shhhh," he soothed her. "Only as far as you're willing to go, I promise. I'm not in a hurry, Darcy. I care about you too much for that," Bobby told her. Darcy had no idea if he was feeding her a line (as a little voice in her head that sounded suspiciously like Jubilee suggested) or whether he was sincere. But either way, those were the exact words she needed to hear.

"Maybe…just…a-above the waist then?" she suggested shyly. Her cheeks burning with mortification as she forced herself to ignore the part of her brain that was screaming at her that her father would absolutely kill her dead if he knew. He'd already had his chance at it and failed, and she argued with herself that she followed no one's rules but her own now.

"Whatever you want," Bobby replied, his voice husky and seductive as he leaned his head in to kiss her long and deep. Darcy meeting him with an enthusiasm that simply took his breath away.

Bobby tugged his t-shirt off over his head impatiently when the kiss ended, his skin hungry for the touch of her warm fingers. Darcy wiggled in his lap, shifting into a better position to thoroughly explore all that exposed skin with first her eyes, and then her fingers. His skin was cool, not unpleasantly so, but enough that she noticed, it made her feel hotter than the sun in comparison.

Bobby's hands on her waist both cooled and inflamed her as he slid them slowly up her sides, taking her dark blue Xavier Institute t-shirt with them. She held her breath, trying not to look as nervous as she felt. She wasn't wearing a bra, since Hank had given her the sweats to change into in the infirmary to replace her uniform while it was repaired. Her heart thudded in her chest as Bobby removed her shirt with agonizing slowness, on one hand she wanted to prolong the inevitable, when he'd see her body and see first hand just how small her breasts were. But on the other hand, the sensations he was awakening in her, the anticipation and the desire, made her want to scream at him to just hurry up and end this torture.

His cool palms brushing over the hot skin of her breasts made her have to stifle a moan from the intense tingles that shot up her spine. Bobby grinned at her, his teeth flashing in the dim light as he pulled her t-shirt off over her head and dropped it in the next seat on top of his.

He pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her narrow back as he hugged her tightly, their bare chests pressed together. Darcy wound her arms around his neck in response, closing her eyes as she drank in the new – and yet somehow totally right – experience of having her naked flesh pressed against another persons. The added bonus being who that person was, of course.

"Mmmm," Bobby murmured in her ear, rubbing her back with his palms gently. "You are so warm…I could just wear you like a sweater," he said. Darcy giggled softly.

"I'm not big enough to be a whole sweater," she teased, leaning back to look at him. Bobby moved his face closer so their lips nearly touched as his hands roamed her slender torso.

"Then I'll keep you inside my sweater, right next to my heart…" he told her dramatically, but Darcy could see the mischief in his eyes, and she tried not to giggle again.

"That is so…_bad…_" she groaned, rolling her eyes. Bobby tried not to grin at the perfect opening she left him.

"But I'm _soooo—_" 

"Don't even say it!" Darcy laughed, leaning her forehead against his. Bobby raised his chin, letting his face rub against hers, his lips nuzzling her cheek, her nose, until they came to rest on her eyelid.

"Maybe I should just keep you in my pocket, then?" he purred softly. Darcy repeated the motion, rubbing her cheek against his until her lips were at the corner of his mouth.

"Maybe you should just be kissing me…" she whispered, the corners of her mouth curling up slightly. Bobby's lips spread into a grin, and he turned his face to meet her straight on.

"I can do that," he told her, and then kissed her long and deep.

It amazed him that simply kissing his girlfriend, just holding her in his arms, could be so fulfilling. In the past, the goal had always been the score, going all the way. With Darcy, he was finding himself in no real hurry to get there. While the destination was going to be incredible - he just knew - getting there was more than half the fun.

He urged her with gentle tugs and nudges to straddle his lap as he kissed her, the position putting her slightly higher than him, giving him better access to slide his lips over and kiss and nip at her sensitive neck. With her topless, he could feel her nearly instant response to him, her stiff little nipples brushing his upper chest lightly.

He took his sweet time as he worked his way lower from her neck to the hollow of her throat. Letting his breath condense to frost as he exhaled, brushing his lips against her collarbones and making her shiver. She didn't seem to notice – or mind if she did – that his hands had moved down to cup her backside, she was too caught up in the direction his lips were moving. Her fingers twisting in his hair restlessly as his mouth skimmed over her skin, his breaths alternating cold and warm as he moved inexorably lower.

Darcy hissed in air when she felt Bobby rub his cheek gently against her breast, and she exhaled raggedly when he turned his face inward to kiss her nipple. Playfully, Bobby parted his lips, letting the peak of her small breast slide between them.

"Oh!" Darcy gasped, as he closed his lips around the sensitive bud to suckle and tug gently. And she arched her back into the teasing flicks of his cold tongue as he swirled it around her pert nipple.

"You like?" he whispered up at her, as he was moving from one breast to the other, it wouldn't do to play favorites after all. Her arms were wrapped around his head at that point, her upper body bowed backwards to give him better access to her.

"Yuh huh," Darcy nodded fuzzily; lost in the new sensations he was awakening in her body. Bobby grinned against her as he squeezed her deliciously squeezable ass and nuzzled the small valley between her breasts. He was in absolute heaven at the moment and he intended to enjoy every possible second, besides filing the memory away for later when he'd have to inevitably find solo relief for his throbbing groin.

"Mmm…good," he purred, "cause I could do this _all_ day."

She gave a quiet, shaky little laugh at that, before him taking her other nipple into his mouth made her moan softly. "W-wouldn't you get…bored?" she gasped out, every gentle tug of Bobby's mouth sending a fiery bolt of sensation down her spine to the bottom of her belly. 

"Doubt it. I have a really long attention span," Bobby murmured. Darcy moved restlessly in his lap as he showed her the extent of that attention span by giving her other breast the same lavish treatment. She held his head in her hands and tipped his face up as she brought her mouth down on his, kissing him wildly. His hands gripped her ass hard as lust overtook logic for a moment within him, and he pulled her down to rub their pelvises together sensuously. 

"Oh my god!" Darcy whimpered almost soundlessly against Bobby's mouth as her whole body shuddered with pleasure. Bobby's breath against her cheek was – she was internally delighted to note – hot and ragged as he groaned softly.

"Better not do _that _again…" he whispered, as if to himself, his breath still not super steady. Darcy looked at him questioningly, her hands on his shoulders.

"Why?" she whispered, not understanding.

"Remember the other day? The bleachers?" he told her in a low voice, lifting his chin to nip at her jawline. Darcy nodded hesitantly, her skin goosefleshing. "Yeah, well…I'm even harder now…" Bobby whispered in her ear, and the effect was the same as if someone had dipped her in lighter fluid and thrown a match on her. Her nerve endings fairly sizzled as adrenalin rushed full tilt through her body, and she forgot all about trivial things like what had happened that morning, or that she might not be ready to take things farther with Bobby yet. There was only him.

"Are you really?" she asked breathily, her mouth nearly against his as they panted, their hips still subtly moving together as she straddled him. Bobby held her so tightly against him she wasn't quite sure anymore where her skin ended and his began. Her breath became his as they gazed into each other's eyes, and when she licked her lips, her tongue brushed his and she kept it there. Slowly tracing the shape of his lips with the tip of her tongue.

"Darcy…I…" Bobby groaned, and they were so close the vibration of it tickled her lips too.

"What the hell is going on in here? Who left the simulator door open?" a voice – unmistakably Logan's – growled from the back of the sim as he flipped on the lights.

"Shit!" Bobby hissed frantically and pushed Darcy down into the seat as he vacated it, blocking Logan from seeing her with his body as he tossed her t-shirt at her over his shoulder. Logan folded his arms over his chest as he stood in the aisle a row or two behind them, and Bobby was pretty sure his expression meant he wasn't pleased to see him.

Darcy was trying to hunch down in the seat and keep herself out of sight and covered, while she tried to figure out which way her t-shirt went on. No mean feat considering she was holding it over her chest inside out and upside down. 

Bobby turned his shirt right side out and frowned at Logan, who hadn't moved. "A little privacy? If you don't mind?" Bobby snapped sarcastically. Logan raised an eyebrow.

"What do you need privacy _for_, Frostbite?" Logan asked. Bobby tugged his t-shirt on over his head and grinned.

"Has it really been _that_ long for ya?" Bobby clucked sympathetically. Logan growled in the back of his throat warningly, but as usual Iceman just ignored it. The kid definitely had him pegged that he'd never raise a hand to a student or teammate. Didn't mean that Bobby Drake hadn't just earned himself another big fat checkmark next to his name on Logan's mental list of Danger Room victims.

A rustle caught Logan's attention and he leaned forward to see over the seatback of the row Drake was standing in, just as Darcy managed to get her shirt on and be yanking it down.

"Well, isn't this cozy? Just what the heck do you two think you were doing in here?" Logan barked, then shook his head when he saw Bobby trying to stifle his grin. "Never mind, I'm pretty sure I can guess."

Darcy rose to her feet and stood half behind Bobby as Logan stabbed his finger in their direction and started in lecturing Bobby about how a multi-million dollar piece of equipment was not Bobby's personal bachelor pad, and that it was for the practicing of flying, not anatomy.

"And _you_…" Logan growled, his index finger swinging from Bobby to where Darcy was half hidden behind her boyfriend. "I thought Hank told you to stay put in the infirmary? If you're well enough to be up and fooling around with the Popsicle, then you should be fine enough to explain to me why we ended up with two students in the infirmary in the first place!" Logan barked out. Darcy looked stunned, like someone had slapped her.

Bobby reached behind him for Darcy's hand; he didn't need to look at her to know that she was totally intimidated by Logan's attitude. What new student wasn't? He'd just been here long enough to know that most of Logan's yelling and growling was all bluff and show, that he actually cared quite a bit about the students he taught. Logan just had a rough way about him. Darcy grabbed Bobby's hand with both of hers tightly, her fingernails biting into his palm.

"Hey, Logan…go easy on her. What happened this morning was an accident. Jamie already told us that he fell…" Bobby said. 

"You need to back off and stop coddling her. She had no business being on that river with another teammate if she couldn't handle it. There is no excuse for endangering another student…" Logan argued back.

"That's not fair!" Bobby shot back, and behind him Darcy's eyes started to go liquid and strange as she gripped Bobby's hand tighter.

On a cliff above the inlet to the bay was a gazebo, where Rogue had once sent the stone representation of Mystique on a one-way trip to the rocks below. Its beautiful view of the bay and tranquil setting made it a perfect place to reflect and meditate. Or in the case of Professor Charles Xavier, attempt to carve out some personal time with a good book, without the constant interruptions of Institute life. It was rare when he could sneak in an hour or two to just enjoy the beautiful grounds of his Institute on his own.

Last fall, he had decided to embark on re-reading all of Shakespeare's works, in alphabetical order. It was slow going with so little personal time, but Xavier was in no rush to finish. He was only too happy to lose himself for a spell in merry Messina, and the sniping of Benedick and Beatrice. Privately, he thought the two rather reminded him of how Ray and Tabitha interacted.

Thus happily engrossed, he didn't notice the changes in the bay until a shadow fell across his book. He looked up and his mouth fell open a bit.

"Good Lord…"

Darcy was lost.

From the moment Logan had started reprimanding them, all Darcy could see and hear was her father. When she had first seen Logan she had been struck by the similarity in presence between the Reverend and Wolverine. Their voices, their powerful builds, their stubborn and single-minded views that they were always right. 

Being around Logan was like being around her father, only without the fire and brimstone. Which is why she studiously avoided the man whenever possible.

Growing up, her father had never hit her when she disobeyed, that wasn't his way despite his stern and unyielding manner. Her father's way had been to lecture her on the errors of her ways. Hours long sermons on how her misbehaving was the devil's work. Hours the two of them would sit in the hard uncomfortable pews and pray, until Darcy was ready to do anything, or say anything to be free. It was how her father had cultivated Darcy's obedience, for it was far easier to do what her father wanted…than to defy him.

Now, thirteen hundred miles away from that hot prairie church and her father's domineering will, she felt the same way she had as a young child and later teen - having her individuality stripped away from her – as Logan kept on about she and Bobby's inappropriate behavior. And she'd had it.

No one was ever going to tell her what to do again. Not her father, not anyone.

Logan continued on, unaware of the grave mistake he was making as he chewed Bobby and Darcy out. While the offense – making out in the simulator – wasn't nearly as bad as he was making it out to be, it was Iceman's stubborn attitude like Logan was overreacting that was sorely trying the older man's temper. 

He knew that teenagers would be teenagers, and that they were just ticking time bombs of hormones waiting to go off. He had only intended to break up a little inappropriate (given the place) behavior and call it over with. But the more frustrated Logan got, the more grievances with them he was airing. He kept them mostly confined to Iceman, Bobby having the longer track record with Logan. But Darcy was not exempt, especially when Logan began criticizing her for what had happened earlier that day.

Like she had in the hallway of school when she'd gotten so upset by Kevin Donaldson's attack on Bobby, Darcy lost herself to her emotions. She sought water to calm herself instinctually, and the nearby bay was a presence she could sense almost as though it were alive, but she was too far gone to use it to soothe her. Too lost in the pain and rage of her family's betrayal to know what she was doing. All she could see was her father, and she'd do anything to wipe him from her mind forever – only then would she be truly free.__

At the gazebo, Professor Xavier stared up in concern at the wall of water that rose two and a half stories above the edge of the cliff. The tidal wave had enough power to flood the Institute easily.

_ Professor! What's happening? _Jean's voice cried in his mind as she and Storm flew across the treetops toward him, having seen the wave from the Institute. Xavier didn't waste time answering, and confident that Jean and Storm could handle the phenomenon; he concentrated on the source of it…Torrent. 

And he reached out to her with his mind…

_It had been a beautiful night, the high school gymnasium decorated so beautifully that it was hardly recognizable as such. The prevalent smell of sweat and equipment was gone too, overpowered by the scent of perfume, cologne, and the many corsages present._

_She'd looked beautiful, grown up for her age in a pale ice blue gown that matched her unusual eyes. She was the prettiest girl at the Dry Bluff High Senior Prom, and the youngest as well. Only a sophomore dancing in the arms of the handsome captain of the football team._

_She'd liked him very much. The only boy she had defied her father's two date rule for. They had gone out for pizza once, and then confined the time they spent together to group activities so they were never alone as far as her father was concerned. This night – the Prom – was the second official date. All her strict father would allow._

_They'd danced to every song. Laughed and hung out with their friends until the very end of the dance. He'd taken her in his arms then, in the front seat of his pickup truck at the end of the lane that led to her house, and kissed her. Told her how special he thought she was, how someday when she was done with high school and he was done with college he wanted to marry her. Whether her father approved or not._

_Jackson Meyer. Her first – and until Bobby Drake came along – only boyfriend._

_Her happiness had ended abruptly with the appearance of her father, who had been watching for them from the house. He ripped his daughter from the young man's arms by her carefully coiffed hair and dragged her bodily up the uneven lane by her arm. Not stopping even when she tripped and stumbled in the dark in her high-heeled shoes. She'd heard Jackson calling out her name from behind her, but her father ignored it, marching her straight past their house and into the church where he locked her in his office. Tersely telling her he'd be back to have words with her later, but that she had best pray for her sins._

_She never knew what her father said to Jackson Meyer that night, but the next day he got himself a new girlfriend…and never gave her the time of day again._

Professor Xavier closed his eyes as he witnessed Torrent's memories. Like most telepaths capable of entering another's conscious mind, he could see and experience the memory from all angles. He could sense Torrent's emotions – humiliation, anger, fear – but they were not his own, and therefore he was able to maintain objectivity even within the whirling chaos of the girl's mind.

He watched closely as in her eyes, Logan and her father became one in the same. One image overlaying the other between Jackson and Bobby, the past and the present, her father's face twisted in righteous anger, and Logan stabbing his finger in her direction as he yelled.

And through it all, shining endless water. Like Noah's flood.

Xavier snapped his eyes open immediately. _* Logan…whatever you are doing, stop! Just walk away.* _He ordered mentally.

"Professor! Hurry!" Jean called from above as she held the wave motionless, poised to break over the headland and flood the woods. Storm assisted the best she could, summoning the wind to blow against the wave and keep it from crashing down.

In the simulator, Bobby blinked in confusion as mid-rant; Logan turned on his heel and walked away. Leaving them completely alone as he left the hangar, shutting the doors behind him.

"That was weird…" Bobby muttered. Then playfully he took Darcy's hands that were still gripping his tightly and rested them against his butt. "Wanna check for me and see if I still have any ass left after that?" He joked.

When she didn't respond, he glanced over his shoulder at her and gasped in shock. She'd transformed again, but this time without the benefit of being in contact with the water. Her eyes were far away like she was looking deep within. She reminded him of a special effect he'd seen in a movie once about aliens at the bottom of the sea. He reached his hand out tentatively to touch her, the tips of his fingers brushing the liquid strangeness of her cheek tenderly, but she didn't react.

_* Iceman…* _The Professor's voice cut into his mind, _* you have to calm her down and get her to stop. *_

Bobby didn't ask to stop what, the fact that the Professor had addressed him by his codename told him that it was important whatever it was, and he became all business. Being first and foremost in his mind, an X-man.

"Torrent! You have to snap out of it," he said, shaking her by the shoulders, but she remained unresponsive.

"Iceman! Get out of there, I'm gonna send Rogue in!" Logan's voice came over the simulator's comlink. Bobby scowled; Darcy was his girlfriend and his student and therefore his responsibility. She'd been through enough already that day; he wasn't about to let Rogue drain her and he lunged forward toward the simulator's controls.

"Stay out of this! I'll handle it!" he barked over the comlink and then switched it off, shutting the simulator doors while he was at it and plunging them into pitch darkness. Only a few red indicators on the control panel gave him a point of reference as he felt his way back to Darcy.

She was right where he'd left her and he was careful with her as he put his hands on her shoulders. "Darcy…please," he whispered in the dark, "come back to me." He put his arms around her shoulders, holding her carefully as he whispered her name over and over. Slowly, he felt her return to normal until she was solid and warm in his arms.

"Bobby?" she whimpered, confused as her arms went around him. "It happened again didn't it…what did I do?" she cried, clinging to him. "Why does this keep happening to me?"

"Shhhh…it's okay now. Everything is going to be fine…I promise," he soothed her. Stroking her hair as she cried against his shoulder quietly.

"No it isn't," she whispered miserably, too quiet for Bobby to hear.

Professor Xavier steepled his fingers under his chin and gazed out at the now calm water of the Bay. The ground around the gazebo was wet and muddy from how close the wave had come to breaking over it before the water had receded. 

He was still marginally connected to Torrent and the goings on below the Institute, he knew that it was Iceman alone that had been able to reach her through her power surge, like Scott had once done for Jean.

She was troubled girl, her emotional scars ran much deeper than he'd first sensed when she had first come to the Institute, and for the first time he wondered if it was wise to let her continue to develop such a strong bond with Bobby Drake. But from what he'd glimpsed in her mind, she needed an anchor, and apparently that anchor was Bobby.

"Professor?" Ororo murmured, standing at his side as he watched the Bay. Storm was ever sensitive to his moods, and while not a telepath, she was intuitive enough to probably guess what he was thinking.

"I think I have a special project for you, Ororo…" he responded thoughtfully.

***

Next Chapter: Girl's day out!

AN: Sorry this chapter has taken longer than normal. The Thanksgiving holiday threw me off my schedule and I have been trying to get back into my writing rhythm ever since.

The play the Professor was reading is of course, _Much Ado About Nothing_, one of my favorites. ^_^ The movie reference is of course, _The Abyss_. I kind of see Darcy's powers a being a little like the alien probe that came up into the ship and mimicked Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's features.

Anyway, thanks to: Rurouni Tyriel, Namek Kaia, Ashley, ShadowyKat, warconq1, Moose5, broochky, Comet-hime, and Mirai Marron for the reviews. I hope you are enjoying the story and will continue to give me your feedback. Tabby will be making more of an appearance in the next chapter, so never fear that I have dropped the Berzerker/Boom-Boom subplot.

Until next time, keep the feedback coming! ^_^


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